Moving On
by amjwriter
Summary: !WARNING! This is NOT a Babe HEA. This is a Ranger HEA with someone else. Tired of the same old routine, Ranger decides it's time to move on and starts dating someone else. They quickly hit it off and things go pretty fast. Again...NOT a Babe HEA.
1. Chapter 1

**All characters belong to JE, the rest is just the crazy ramblings of a long-time JE fan.**

 **This is NOT a Babe. This is a Ranger Tart HEA.**

Amy Kendrick is the securities technology specialist(STS) for Rangeman Inc. in Trenton, New Jersey. Basically she is in charge of the computerized side of the security systems that Rangeman sells and maintains. Rangeman is a security company owned and operated by Ranger, aka Carlos Manoso. Amy's fancy title also puts her as third in command, second to Ranger's right-hand man Tank. And she loves every minute of it. Amy hadn't always worked in the Trenton office, she had actually started in the Miami office while she was working on her Master's degree. She transferred to the Trenton office when the STS spot opened up four and a half years earlier. Her reasons for taking the job and moving so far were simple; it was a hell of a pay raise and it put distance between her and her ex-husband Troy.

Moving had been the best thing for Amy, and her 6-year old daughter Lexi. They found a nice house, in a great neighborhood. And thanks to the amazing benefits of working at Rangeman, Amy finally had a stress-free life…Almost.

Amy was notorious for getting all of her work done at least twenty minutes before the end of her shift. That way she had at least twenty minutes to organize a to-do list for the next day and have everything ready. She'd organize the paperwork on her desk and be walking out of her office at precisely 5pm.

Tuesday was no different. It was four-thirty and Amy had a stack of files ready to be filed. She checked over her to-do list for the day. Only two things hadn't gotten done but they weren't due for another week. She pulled out her legal pad and started a new to-do list for the next day. One of the office paper pushers stuck her head in the office door and cleared her throat.

"Hey Marcy," She looked up and smiled. Marcy was in her mid-forties, had dark brown hair and hazel eyes, she was short but as with all Rangeman employees she was incredibly fit. They weren't friends outside of work, but Amy got along well with Marcy and they often chatted when they had a break.

"Those files done?" She pointed to the stack on the corner of Amy's desk.

"Yes. Please take them away. Thank You." She said as Marcy scooped them up.

"Not a problem." Marcy said as she walked out the door. "See you tomorrow!"

"See you."

Amy went back to her to-do list. She swiveled her chair around to her computer on the table behind her desk. She didn't like her computer sitting on her desk and blocking her view of her door. She had just started closing out of her email when she sensed someone walk in her office and approach her desk.

"Ranger, you're the only person I know who can move around so soundlessly." She turned around and smiled at him.

"You're the only person that I can't sneak up on." He had a half smile set on his naturally gorgeous face.

"What can I do for you?" She shuffled some paperwork around on her desk.

"I'm going to need your help on a skip." He gave her a serious look.

"Now?" She checked her watch. It was four forty-five.

"Yeah, Tank's on his way down to the garage to get the car ready. I know you have a daughter to pick up, I can have Hal or Lester take her to her grandparents or a family member."

"I don't have any family here." Amy couldn't help but smile a little, she was kind of surprised he'd remembered she had a daughter. "But I can call a friend, our daughters are friends so I'm sure she wouldn't mind keeping Lexi for the evening."

"Okay, just meet us down in the garage. I'll fill you in on the way." And he was gone.

Amy called Emma's mom Barb and was thankful she had no problems picking Lexi up from daycare and keeping her for the evening. After a quick call to the daycare to let them know someone else was picking Lexi up, she shut down her computer and double-checked that she had everything done and squared away for the next day before leaving her office.

A black Cadillac Escalade was waiting about a dozen feet from the elevator when she got to the garage. Tank was in the driver's seat and Hal was in the front seat. Amy walked over to the car and the back passenger door opened revealing Ranger sitting behind Tank.

"Everything taken care of?" Ranger asked as Amy climbed in and closed her door.

"Yeah, I'm good." She angled toward Ranger a little, "So what's the story?"

"We wrote a pretty big bond for Vinnie Moretti and the guy went AWOL. He avoided his court date because he knew his bond was going to get revoked for numerous probation violations." As he spoke, Ranger was pulling a bunch of equipment out of a hard black plastic case. "We've been trying to track him down for a couple of weeks. We finally figured out that his girlfriend has been lying to us and has had him hidden in her house the whole time. I've had guys watching the house 24/7 for the last four days and we finally have a break. The girlfriend left, so Vinnie is there alone."

Amy took advantage of the pause, "So you want me to pretend I'm a friend of the girlfriend to get him to answer the door?"

"Yup." Ranger held up one of the things he'd gotten from the case, "Microphone. Turn," he motioned with a finger for her to turn, "I'm going to clip this so it sits inside your waistband at your hip, I'll let you feed the wire under your shirt. Clip the mic to your bra."

Amy turned her back to Ranger. "Just pretend your having guy problems. Tell him you work with Linda, the girlfriend, and you really need to talk to her."

"I can handle that." Then she took the small microphone and stuck one hand down the front of her v-neck black Rangeman shirt while she put her other hand holding the microphone up under the front hem. After a minute she had the microphone secured and her shirt straightened. Before she could even mention the fact that her shirt said Rangeman, Ranger handed her a women's black, grey, silver, and white plaid button-down shirt.

"You read my mind."

Ranger winked.

Amy smiled.

"Should we do a sound check?"

"We will in about ten minutes. We'll stop about a block away from the house and let you out so you can walk and so he doesn't see me or the guys." Ranger handed her a flesh-colored ear piece. "This fits right in your ear. He won't see it but you'll be connected with us and hear what we're doing the whole time."

Amy took it and positioned it in her ear. "This guy has guns doesn't he?" She watched Ranger for a reaction. Nothing.

"Probably."

"Fabulous." She said sarcastically.

"Are you carrying today?"

"No," all Rangeman employees were excellent marksmen and had permits to carry concealed, Amy just didn't find much need for her to carry. She did own a couple of hand guns, which were locked safely away at home.

"I've got a couple of options for you in a case in the back. We'll get you armed when we stop."

"What's the signal or code word if I see any guns, assuming I can get in the house?"

"Hot, say how hot the weather is or something."

"It is frickin' hotter than hell out today, I mean I realize it's August but holy balls." Amy noticed Tank's shoulders shake a little as he chuckled quietly to himself, the first movement or noise she'd noticed from Tank since she'd gotten in the car.

"Just talk to him long enough for us to get the house surrounded. We'll let you know when we're in position and when we're about to ruin his day."

"I can handle that."

The car stopped, Tank had parked in an apartment complex parking lot. "This is it."

"So I get hazard pay for this, right?" Amy asked before she opened her door.

Ranger's mouth lifted ever so slightly in what could possibly be interpreted as a smirk or a smile. "Yes, you'll get double overtime. I'll even give you tomorrow off, paid."

"Woohoo!" Amy said with faked enthusiasm.

"Step out and we'll do a quick mic check." Ranger turned on the transmitter and made sure Amy's mic was turned on before she left the car.

Amy stepped out and shut the door then stretched. "Man it's hot out here," she said slightly above a whisper.

"Or it's just you," Ranger's reply sounded in her ear piece. She felt her cheeks flush a little. In the two years she had worked directly with Ranger, he'd never made any obvious passes at her. They'd always gotten along great and seemed to always be professional. So the comment caught her off guard. "Let's get you armed." He said as he opened his door.

Amy met him at the back of the car. But she was still thinking about his comment. Last she knew he had his on-again/off-again thing with Stephanie.

Ranger already had the back lift gate open and had another hard black plastic case opened in the cargo area. "Are you comfortable with a Sig P220 compact? If not I have a M & P."

"The Sig is good. I'm proficient with that one. I've never actually shot the M & P before."

"Sig it is then. Just put it in the back waistband of your jeans, your shirts will cover it."

Amy took the gun and gripped it in her hands, pointing at the ground just to get a feel for it and practice aiming for a few seconds before tucking it into the back of her jeans. She straightened her shirts and then turned her back to Ranger.

"Can you see it? Or notice anything?"

Ranger looked then his gaze dropped to her butt, checking her out. He caught Tank's slightly lifted eyebrow and then noticed that Amy had looked over her shoulder wondering why everything had suddenly gotten so quiet.

"Your good." He replied. With a barely perceptible nod he signaled for Tank to get back in the car.

"What's the address and what does the house look like?"

Ranger told her the house number, "Go down to the corner there," he pointed to their East, "turn left and go a block and half. It's a shabby one-story with peeling blue paint and a solid brown door on the west side of the street."

"Okay." She noticed Hal trying unsuccessfully to not look obvious as he watched them through the car window. "I guess I'm off."

"Bobby will be watching you, he's parked across the street a little to the northeast."

"Got it." Amy turned and started walking.

Ranger got back in the Escalade, Tank waited until they couldn't see Amy anymore before they headed the opposite way to meet up with a couple of the guys covering the back of the house.

Tank switched off his mic and signaled for Ranger to do the same. "Looks like the ones you've been giving Amy could kill."

Ranger gave Tank his signature smirk then turned his mic back on. "We're getting in position." Tank parked and the three of them got out and met up with Miguel and Lester.

"I'm walking up to the front door." Amy sounded cool and confident. She waited a second before knocking.

The door opened a crack and a scruffy unshaven man peeked through, "Who're you?"

Amy had made sure she looked upset and distraught before she knocked, "I'm a friend of Linda's. We work together. I just had an awful fight with my boyfriend and I wanted to talk to her." She finished up with a sniffle.

"She ain't here." He replied gruffly.

Amy feigned a disappointed look. "Oh jeeze." Her eyes started to well, "Do you know when she'll be back?"

He paused for a minute, "I dunno. Should be soon. You can come back."

"I don't have a car, the bus dropped me a couple blocks away. Can I just sit and wait for her?"

He stared at her and considered for a minute before he finally unchained the door and opened it wider, but only enough for her to get through. He quickly shut it behind her as soon as she was inside.

"What did you say your name was?"

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I'm Sarah Jensen." Amy sat down on the edge of a mostly clean-looking chair. "Would you mind getting me something to drink? It's just so hot out today."

"Sure." He went though a doorway to what Amy assumed was the kitchen. She had seen the butt of a rifle under the couch as soon as she'd walked into the house. But now sitting down she could see the business end of a pistol next to the rifle. He came back in and handed her a can of Pepsi.

"Thank you so much" She pretended like she was balancing the can on her knee to open it as she heard Ranger in her ear say "breach!" She put the can on the coffee table and drew her Sig just as the front door came crashing in.

Ranger was the first through with Tank right behind him, both yelling out "Bond enforcement!" Ranger knocked the guy to the ground and Tank rolled him to his stomach and had his hands cuffed behind his back in less than thirty seconds.

"Vinnie," Ranger said as Tank hauled their guy off the floor. "I told you there wasn't anywhere you could hide that I wouldn't find you." With that Tank, now accompanied by Lester ushered him out the front door.

Ranger and Amy followed, both holstering their weapons. Hal had pulled the Escalade around to the front of the house and met them with the door open and waiting for Vinnie.

"You can ride back to Rangeman with me." Ranger said as he pulled his earpiece out and took his mic off while he walked to the back of the Escalade. Lester drove the Cayenne but he's escorting Vinnie to the PD with Tank and Hal." He opened the lift gate and started putting all of his equipment away. Amy followed suit and gave him her earpiece and microphone. "And the Sig," he reminded her.

"Oh yeah," she pulled it out of the back of her jeans and handed it to him.

He closed the case and then shut the liftgate. He led the way down the street to his Cayenne.

"We can do dinner, if you're hungry." Ranger asked as he opened her door for her.

Amy checked her watch, it was six o'clock. "Sure, I've got time." He closed her door then circled around got in and started the car. So he must definitely be off with Stephanie. Once she really thought about it, Amy realized she hadn't seen Steph around Rangeman in at least a couple months.

"Where do you want to eat?"

"I'm not too picky. But I know you're a pretty big health nut so you choose."

"Do you like Sushi?"

"Yeah," for the first time she noticed her purse by her feet, Ranger must have had it moved from the Escalade. She pulled her phone out, no missed calls.

"Expecting a call?"

"No. Just a habit. I wanted to make sure my friend Barb hadn't called about my daughter."

"Alexa, right?"

"Yeah," Amy smiled, surprised that he knew. "I call her Lexi."

Ranger nodded. "How old is she?"

"Six going on sixteen." Amy laughed at herself and shook her head, "I take that back, she isn't quite that bad most of the time."

"Isn't that a girl thing?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"There's a Japanese place over on the east side, they have really good sushi. Or the hibachi if you prefer that."

"I've been there before, they have the best Philadelphia and hot night rolls."

"Their hot night roll is one of my favorites as well." Ranger shot her a quick look out of the corner of his eye before going back to the road. She had good taste in sushi, they were starting off on the right foot.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Fifteen minutes later they pulled into the Japanese restaurant. They walked in and the hostess immediately sat them at a table in a corner. Amy opened her menu and immediately started deciding on what she wanted, although it didn't take her long to decide since this was one of her favorite places to eat. The waitress came back and took their drink orders, not surprisingly Ranger ordered a water but he did surprise her by ordering saki for both of them. Amy asked for a water as well. Their waitress left to let them decide on their dinner.

"Would you be opposed to sharing a few sushi rolls?" Ranger watched her study the menu.

"That would be good. I usually get their side salad, I love their dressing. And like I said in the car, the Philadelphia roll and the hot night roll are my favorites."

"I like their side salad as well. I agree on the hot night roll. And I will try your Philadelphia roll if you'll try my Alaskan Roll."

Amy looked up the Alaskan Roll and decided it sounded like it was worth a shot. "Deal." She closed her menu and gave him a tentative smile. "I have to ask,"

Their waitress interrupted her. Ranger read off their order and he and Amy both smiled at the waitress and waited for her to leave.

"You have to ask?" Ranger watched her as she started to look slightly uncomfortable.

"I do. Is this a date?"

"Yes," Ranger answered without hesitation. "Does that make you uncomfortable?"

"Well, No. But it does lead to another question." She paused for a second, "What about you and Stephanie?"

His eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly but he waited only a few seconds before answering, "That's over. I don't want to get into all of the details on our first date, but rest assured there's nothing there anymore."

"I just wanted to make sure I wasn't poaching someone else's guy. I don't do that kind of dating or relationships."

"Me either."

"Good."

"Is it my turn now?" Ranger folded his hands on the table in front of him.

"Your turn for what?" Amy cocked her head.

"To ask you a question?"

"Oh, yeah sure."

"You said earlier that you didn't have any family here, where did you grow up?"

"Well I was born in Illinois but we moved to Iowa when I was about two. I guess you could say that my dad had a wandering soul because we were only there for a few years before moving to Tennessee. I left there with my dad when I was fourteen for Florida. I was hired by your Miami office pretty much straight from college, then transferred up here for a change of scenery. What about you?"

Ranger had watched her intently while she talked and could tell there was more to her story. But he really didn't want to push her on their first date. "Born and raised in the states but both of my parents are from Cuba. I spent most of my early years in Miami. Immediately after high school I enlisted in the Army. I spent quite a few years doing special ops. I started Rangeman and after a few years of bouncing between Trenton, Miami, and getting called out for big trips for special ops I got out of the Army so I could focus on Rangeman."

"Any brothers or sisters?"

"One younger sister. She's married and lives out in Vegas with her husband and two kids. What about you? Siblings?"

"I have an older brother, he lives in New York City, he's married but no kids yet. When my dad left for Florida my mom didn't want to go so they divorced. My dad got re-married a few years later to someone a little younger than him. She had three sons and a daughter, all younger than me. My oldest step-brother is a junior in college, the next a freshman in college, then the twins are Seniors in high school, and finally my little half sister is in seventh grade."

"Wow, did your dad and step-mom plan your little sister?"

"No," Amy kind of chuckled but the server interrupted them with their salads and plate of sushi, she continued after the server left. "Well, I guess they sort of did. My dad had a vasectomy a few years after I was born. But he had it reversed after he and Carrie got married. The doctor basically said that since the procedure had been done so long ago their odds weren't great for getting pregnant without help. Dad and Carrie agreed to just do the reversal and see if it happened. It didn't even take six months."

"How old were you?" Ranger asked between bites of his salad.

"Nineteen. It's so weird for me knowing my little sister was only four when my daughter was born."

"And you said she's six now?"

"Yes. She just started first grade."

"So that would make you twenty-nine."

"Yes, less than a year until I enter my third decade. What about you? You know my age so spill it." Amy took a bite of her salad.

"Thirty-three."

"Yeah, but you look like your only twenty-five." Her response made him cough a little, trying not to choke on his sushi. Amy couldn't help but chuckle at Ranger's reaction.

"Let's talk about something else." He took a drink of water. "What did you major in at college?"

"Oh c'mon, I know you already know the answer to that. And probably to any other question your going to ask. You run very thorough background checks on all of your employees. You probably know our dogs name." she teased.

"I do run thorough background checks but it doesn't mean that I memorize them. I know you went to school in Florida but I really don't remember your major."

"I majored in Management Information Systems, I minored in Criminology. For a very short time in my life I'd thought about being a criminal psychologist. It was interesting," she said, anticipating his next question. "But I couldn't see myself doing that for very long. Plus computers seemed to be a good choice at the time."

"Why do you say the 'best choice'?" he watched her as she tried the Alaskan Roll. "Was it money?"

She held up a finger while she chewed.

"How's the Alaskan Roll?"

"Delicious, a new favorite I think." She took a sip of water before continuing, "Isn't everything about money?" She shook her head, "Honestly I liked tinkering with computers. I took some advanced computer science classes in high school, including college-level classes that counted for high school credit and college credit after I graduated. I found I liked programming."

"You graduated Cum Lade didn't you?" He asked before thinking. He actually had practically memorized her employee file and background check.

"Yes, I was a book worm." She took another piece of the Alaskan Roll, he did the same. Once she was finished chewing she added, "Well not a total book worm because I did manage to work a part-time job and be a member of the college's competitive dance team."

"I'd call that being an over-achiever, not a book worm."

"I suppose that's accurate." Amy took a small sip of her saki, it wasn't her favorite thing ever but the one he'd ordered wasn't bad. "So you have a daughter too don't you?"

"Yeah, Julie. She's thirteen."

"I'm sorry if I'm being too forward, but why don't you spend any time with her?"

That made him pause. "It just wasn't a good fit for me at the time. I was young and just starting my military career. Her mom and I got married, but she couldn't really handle me being gone as much as I was. I wasn't even in the US when Julie was born. By the time I got home my ex was ready to move out and had talked to a lawyer about a divorce. It was for the best at the time. Julie's mom found someone new, who was a much better father than I was prepared to be at the time. He had more to offer them, and he was definitely more stable."

"What about now?"

"Julie knows that if she wants a relationship it's her choice, but no one is going to force it."

Amy nodded. "Do you want a relationship now?"

"Yeah," he nodded slightly. "I wouldn't mind."

They were both quiet for a minute.

"I'm sorry," Amy finally said. "First date conversations are supposed to be light and friendly. I just drove us right into sad and serious."

"That's okay." He paused, "I've never really been that comfortable with someone to open up like that before." At Amy's slightly uneasy look he gave her a genuine smile. "You just make it easy."

Amy felt a warm tingle start at the top of her head and go all the way down to her toes. "Well, it's always nice to have someone you can really talk to." Amy took a chance and reached across the table to put her hand over his. He turned his over and linked his fingers with hers. That one small gesture gave her butterflies in her stomach and her heart beat a little faster.

The server came back to clear the table and they both pulled back. Ranger got his wallet out and paid the check the server left behind. He left a very generous tip and took her hand as she stood up from the table. They held hands the entire way out to the car until she was in her seat and Ranger was closing her door.

Once they were on their way back to the office Amy took advantage of the darkness in the car to really smile. She couldn't seem to stop herself. Especially when he reached across the center console to hold her hand again.

"So are you busy Friday night?" He asked.

"No. Just another night at home with Lexi."

"Would you like to go out on another date?" He found himself feeling a little nervous that she might turn him down.

She thought for a few seconds just to keep him in suspense. "That would be really nice," she looked over at him and smiled.

"Anything special you'd like to do? Or something you haven't gotten to do in a while?"

"Considering I haven't really dated since college, that list could be long and complicated." She said half joking. "But really, I think you probably know enough about me to have a good idea on your own. Surprise me."

"I think I can handle that." He smiled.

Amy felt a little twinge of disappointment when they pulled into the garage at Rangeman. "Thanks for dinner. I had a great time." She took off her seatbelt then grabbed her purse and reached for the door at the same time.

"Would you like to come up for a drink?" He just wanted to spend more time with her, anything to keep her with him.

"That would be nice." She smiled at him. She really couldn't stop smiling at him. "But it's a school night. I really need to go pick up Lexi at her friend's house and get her home." Amy said regretfully. Although she also didn't know if going up to his apartment after their first date was a smart decision since she'd been basically celibate for about 5 years.

He walked her to her car and opened the door for her. "This weekend." They stood at her car staring at each other. "Would you like to see the house I'm buying? I'm meeting my contractor out there on Saturday morning to go over everything that needs to be done as soon as I take possession."

"I already have to get a sitter for Friday night. Now you want me to go with you to your house on Saturday morning too?"

"You can bring Lexi Saturday."

Amy looked to see if he was serious and immediately saw that he was. "I don't know if I'm ready for that yet."

"I get it." One side of his mouth lifted in a small smile. "But think about it."

"I will. But now I really have to go."

"Will you stay if I tell you that I'll cry myself to sleep if you leave?" He teased.

"You can't guilt me, I have a six year-old."

"True." He took a step closer to her knowing she couldn't go anywhere with her car behind her. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Wednesday morning staff meeting at 8."

"But I now have tomorrow off."

He considered for a minute before responding, "I forgot tomorrow was Wednesday when I gave you the day off."

"Is it that important for me to be at the meeting?"

"Not necessarily but we were planning to go over your new system upgrades. Do you want to take a different day off?"

"Would Monday work? Lexi doesn't have school because of professional development for the teachers, I can spend the day with her instead of her being bored at daycare all day."

"That should work."

"Okay, so I will see you tomorrow then."

He gave her a small smile, "That's great."

"Bye," she whispered.

"Bye" He was standing just a few inches from her.

Neither one of them moved.

"You make it really hard to leave," she looked down just as he took the final step closing the distance between them.

Ranger put a finger under her chin, tipping her head back. "So stay."

"You know I really can't." She lifted her head and couldn't move her gaze past his mouth.

Before she knew what was happening they both leaned toward each other. The moment their lips met, Amy knew she was done. His lips moves gently against hers, coaxing her into a pretty heavy makeout session. After a few minutes, Ranger finally eased back with a final quick kiss.

"I really want you to stay, but I know you can't." He leaned in and lightly brushed his lips against hers again then pulled back. "And I just realized that the guys in the control room just got some free entertainment. So I'm going to go up before they see way more than I'd ever want them to see."

"Bye."

"Bye" She sat in her car and smiled as Ranger closed her door for her. He took a few steps back as she started her car and backed out. She couldn't stop smiling. She put her car in drive and put up a hand in a short wave and was kind of surprised when he did the same. As she drove out of the parking garage she started talking to herself. "I can't believe I am now dating my boss. Amy, what in the hell are you doing?" But she also couldn't stop smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lexi pouted the whole way home from Emma's house, disappointed that she wasn't going to get to have a sleepover.

"I'll make you a deal," Amy said as she backed out of the Hoffman's driveway. "If you stop pouting, I'll ask Emma's mom if you can sleep over Friday night."

Lexi's pouting frown immediately turned into an ear-to-ear smile, "Really?! You promise?!"

Amy nodded. "Yup."

"Okay!" Lexi was practically bouncing in her seat the rest of the drive home. She didn't have to know that Amy had already asked Barb about Friday night and sleepover was happening.

After a bath and a quick bedtime story, Lexi was asleep. Amy looked at her watch surprised that it was only nine o'clock. Her next thought was Ranger. She kind of wanted to call him, how crazy was that? Should she call him? She tried to shake the thoughts out of her head as she sat on the chaise lounge in her room with a cup of hot tea. She was daydreaming about what exactly Ranger's body looked like under his habitual black cargo pants and tight black Rangeman shirt when her cell phone started vibrating on the table next to her. She checked her caller ID before answering and smiled, her heart literally skipped a beat when she saw Ranger's name on the screen.

"Hello," she answered softly.

"Hi."

Pause.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I," there was a long pause. "I don't know."

Amy's smile spread as she leaned back on the chaise. "How many cat calls did you get when you went by the control room?" She swore she heard a short chuckle before he answered.

"None. But I did get the smug smiles. And right before the elevator doors closed I heard whistling, so I'm waiting for the footage to show up on YouTube."

Amy gasped, "Are you serious?"

"No," he really did chuckle at her response. "They all know that any and all security footage is private and cannot be posted online."

"Well that's good."

"But that probably won't stop Tank from emailing me a remix of it."

Amy burst out laughing at that. "You have to forward it to me if he does."

"I will."

Amy smiled during the short silence. "So why did you call?" She finally asked.

"I'm not really sure. I know it's corny, but I just wanted to hear your voice." He sighed, "And now I should probably go so I can kick my own ass. I sound so lame."

"No," Amy answered before he could beat himself up anymore, sitting up on the chaise as she spoke. "Don't go. Or you don't have to go if you really don't want to. I was actually thinking about you when you called."

"Oh really? Anything good?"

"A lady never tells." She teased.

"That's mean."

Amy decided to change the subject. "Lexi is staying at her friend's house Friday night. And I don't have to pick her up until Saturday afternoon." She got up and wandered around her room.

"That's great. I guess I'd better up my dating game for Friday then, and hope I can convince you to come back to my place."

"If you can guess what my idea of a perfect date is and execute it, I will definitely go back to your place with you." She knew that he couldn't back away from a challenge.

"Oh really?" His smile was actually evident from the change in the tone of his voice. "You should know me well enough to know that I don't get scared off easily, I love a challenge."

"I do know that."

"I probably should go now, I need to make sure our date meets your criteria of the perfect date. I've got some work to do."

"Okay," Amy didn't think any date with Ranger could be bad, but she was certainly hoping he figured out her perfect date. "Oh, before you go. I have kind of a strange question."

"Okay."

"Do you prefer to always be called Ranger? Or is that just a professional name? I mean, since we're now dating should I call you Ricardo? Carlos? Ricky? Okay, definitely not Ricky that sounded weird just saying it."

"I suppose that's up to you. My family calls me Carlos, my Grandma is the only one who calls me Ricardo. I've never really dated in the traditional sense so I've never really thought about it before. You can call me Carlos if you wish, or Ranger is fine."

"I'll have to think about it I guess."

"Okay. See you in the morning then."

"Yeah, bye."

Amy held her phone in both hands after ending the call. It seemed strange to call him Carlos, but calling the guy she was dating by his badass Army nickname also seemed a little weird. Maybe she would have to come up with her own name to call him. With that thought she started her usual night-time wind down routine. Friday couldn't get there fast enough.

The alarm at five-fifteen am shot Amy out of her dream. She was disappointed when she rolled over to turn it off and found that she really was alone, her dream of Ranger in her bed had seemed so real. She got out of bed and changed into workout clothes, Wednesday mornings were 30 minutes of yoga and 30 minutes of cardio. After a quick shower she went into her closet and chose a sexy black lace push-up bra and matching lace boy short underwear. She blew out her light brown hair instead of letting it air dry like she normally would. Her usual makeup routine was a little eye-liner and some barely tinted chapstick but today called for a little more. A quick swipe of mascara on her lashes, carefully applied eye-liner, light shimmery nude eye shadow, and some pale pink lip gloss completed her primping.

The standard uniform for Amy was usually pants-jeans, khakis, or black dress pants-and a coordinating style black Ranger shirt-v-neck tee, button-down dress shirt, or polo shirt. Wednesday morning however, she was in the mood for a little change. She put on a black pencil skirt and a fitted button-down black Rangeman shirt then stepped into the only pair of black skyscraper heels she owned. Her feet would probably be killing her by the time she finished her work day, but it would probably be worth every single sexy look she would get from Ranger. Or Carlos. She was definitely going to have to give serious thought to that and figure out something.

Lexi seemed surprised to see her mom dressed so nicely, as she kept mentioning it throughout their usual morning routine.

"Mom, why are you wearing a skirt today?" Lexi asked as Amy French braided her hair.

"We have a meeting today honey, so I decided to dress up a little for it."

"Oh. Like teachers dress nice for conferences?"

"Yeah, just like that." Amy tied off the braid and they headed to the kitched for breakfast. "Tonight is girls night baby, what do you want to do?"

"Can we get our nail painted?"

"Absolutely, I'll call and make us an appointment on my way to work."

"Can I get purple this time?"

"You can pick whatever color you want honey."

They sat down at the kitchen table for a quick breakfast of yogurt with fresh fruit and granola and orange juice. By 7:30 they were getting in Amy's black Jeep Grand Cherokee. They only lived a few blocks from the Elementary school but Amy liked to drop Lexi off on her way to work, which was thankfully also close. After a quick kiss and a hug Lexi excitedly bounced up the stairs and into the building, Amy never pulled away until she had seen Lexi walk through the doors.

Amy pulled into the garage at Rangeman at twelve 'til 8, leaving her plenty of time to get her notes for the software updates and be in the conference room before eight. She took the elevator up to the third floor and made sure to walk quickly by the control room to the break room to grab a bottle of water. She could have sworn she heard some suspicious whispers as she walked by, but she wasn't stopping to find out. After a quick pit stop by her office for her notes she was in the conference room hooking her laptop up to the projector.

Ranger watched Amy strut into the conference room for the weekly meeting. She knew exactly how to push his buttons. Instead of her habitual meeting attire of khaki pants and black Rangeman polo, she was wearing a fitted button-down Rangeman shirt and a tight black skirt with sexy as hell heels. He was surprised that he hadn't known she had a tattoo of a pink and white star-gazer lily on the outside of her left foot.

Amy could feel his eyes on her the second she walked in the conference room door. Her plan was working. She knew he'd notice her change from her usual attire, and could feel him watching her. She pointedly ignored him and continued with setting her computer up to play her power point presentation for the meeting. People trickled in slowly and Amy made polite conversation with some as they all waited for the meeting to start. She was sitting just to Ranger's right attempting to ignore his occasional but obvious glances. Until finally she turned toward him.

"Good morning Amy." He gave her his 'I'm too badass to actually smile' half smiles.

"Morning Ranger. I saw the morning paper ran a little blurb on Vinnie."

"Yeah. He was a little upset that I wouldn't re-bond him."

"Oh well." She paused and winked at him. "Are you ready to start the meeting? It looks like everyone's here now."

The little wink had surprised him. He was actually fighting off the urge to pull her off to his office so he could wipe that smug little smile off of her face. That revelation was also surprising because he'd never had someone test his patience and professionalism like that.

The meeting started with Ranger congratulating the team on capturing Vinnie the night before. It cleared a large outstanding bond off their list and you could tell that everyone felt better knowing their number one most wanted had been caught. Ranger moved on to the business for the week, checking in with the head of the installations department. Chad gave a brief overview of the number of new clients they'd picked up since the previous week and which packages were their most popular.

Amy usually paid attention intently at the weekly meetings. But this week was a little bit different. All she could think about was the time she'd spent with Ranger the night before and their make-out session by her car. She found herself daydreaming about what it would be like to finally be with him, to finally break her five years of celibacy. Thankfully she broke out of her happy thoughts just as Chad was done talking. She stood and started her short slideshow on the software upgrades and what new features were now available.

Ranger closed out the meeting talking about a couple of job openings in the company. The number of new clients they'd accepted over the last six months meant they had to hire on a few more people to keep up with the demands. Never a bad problem to have. Once he was done everyone started filing out the door to head off to their respective offices or desks. Tank followed Ranger to his office and didn't say a word until the door closed behind him, then he suddenly started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Ranger stared at him curiously.

Tank took a moment to compose himself. "You went home with her didn't you?"

"No," Ranger answered quickly. "We came back here and talked for a few minutes in the garage before she had to go pick up her daughter."

"What kind of conversation in the garage? The knuckleheads on the overnight shift in the control room were suspiciously quiet when I walked in this morning."

"I didn't fuck her on the hood of my car Tank."

"Well I know that. If you had they would've called me last night." He couldn't help but tease him. He knew exactly what Ranger and Amy had been up to, he was just enjoying watching him squirm a little for once. He'd never seen Ranger quite so hung up on a woman before.

"Did you follow up with Lester on the Briggs account? That account is too big to lose because of an equipment or software problem." Ranger knew that changing the subject wouldn't make Tank give up but it would get him to drop it for now.

"Lester is taking Pete with him so they can physically check every single foot of wire and the connections, all of the cameras and sensors, and the security room. It's going to take them all of today for sure and possibly into tomorrow. If they can't find anything Amy is going to go over herself to go through their computers to see if something went wrong with the software."

"Good." Ranger finally sat down at his desk and turned on his computer. "Any other major issues?"

Tank smiled and backed toward the office door, "No boss. I'm going to hit the gym, you want to join me for a few rounds of boxing?"

"No, I've already hit the gym this morning."

"Okay. Later." Tank was still smiling as he walked out of Ranger's office.

As soon as Tank walked out Ranger picked up the phone to make a call. He was in so much trouble with Amy already, but he just couldn't seem to help himself. He just hoped that she liked the first part of his date, well this would be a warm up for the date. He just hoped she liked it.

Amy went straight to her office after the meeting. She had to get the finished software program down to installations, then she had to stop by Ranger's office to drop off some paperwork. Chad was thankful for the updated software, they had some clients anxious for the new updates. She detoured to the break room for a snack, grabbing an apple and a pre-measured baggie of almonds. There wasn't anything but healthy foods in the Rangeman breakroom, which was why she kept a secret stash of fun size york peppermint patties in her desk.

With the file for Ranger under her arm Amy was chewing a bite of apple as she knocked on Ranger's open door. She wasn't sure if they were bringing their relationship to work or not so she decided to be cool and act normal.

"Hey boss, I've got a copy of the software upgrade for you. I also have the latest reports on what software packages and features are most popular. I'm guessing the new package and features are going to shoot up to the top of these lists next month." She put the file on his desk and sat on the edge of one of the chairs in front of his desk. "And I might have to go over to the Brigg's security room tomorrow or Friday depending on how long it takes Lester and Pete to go over all of the hardware."

Ranger was giving her his signature barely noticeable smile. He nodded in response to her last statement and watched as she nervously took another bite of her apple. "You wore that on purpose."

Amy kept her face relaxed with her indifferent smile, "What do you mean?"

He shook his head, "All throughout the meeting I kept thinking of what could've happened if you had went up to my apartment with me last night."

Amy blushed a little, "Well that's only a little unprofessional."

"Only a little?" He tilted his head slightly, watching her flush a little but she never took her eyes from his. "Can I get any hints for what your perfect date should entail?"

She shook her head at him and smiled, "That would be cheating." She took another bite of apple and tried not to laugh at him. She was quickly learning all of his previously unknown quirks and nervous tells. She didn't even know he had any. But he had laid both of his hands flat on the top of his desk when he asked for a hint about her perfect date.

"Do you have plans for lunch today?"

Amy considered for about two seconds before answering, "No."

"Come down to my office anytime after eleven and we can have lunch together. Would you rather eat here or go out?"

"I'm going to leave that up to you, it doesn't matter to me either way." Amy was just about to stand up when she heard a knock on Ranger's door.

"Boss are you sure you don't want to…oh, Hi Amy." Tank smiled when he saw Amy sitting in Ranger's office. "I was going to try to talk you into going to the gym, but I can see your obviously busy. You know you should just move Amy's office up here next to yours, it would make this a lot easier. Amy wouldn't have to come up with excuses to visit your office." He winked at Amy when he noticed her blush.

"I didn't have to make up any excuses Tank," Amy was still smiling but she knew he'd seen her blush so she didn't want to seem like she was being defensive. "I had a copy of the software updates and some paperwork for Ranger. And I was just about to leave when you knocked." Amy stood up and turned to Ranger, "I'll be here after eleven for lunch." She turned around and walked out, giving Tank a playful elbow jab on her way by him.

Tank waited until he saw Amy get into the elevator before giving Ranger a knowing smile. "Dinner last night, lunch today, dinner Friday night. You're really going after her huh?"

Ranger furrowed his eyebrows slightly giving Tank a barely noticeable glare. "It's lunch, which we'll most likely be eating in my office, so it's not exactly a date."

"You can't eat lunch in your office. At least take it up to your apartment. Keep the guys from dropping in on you at least."

Ranger nodded. "Go workout. I have actual work to do."

Tank laughed the whole way down the hall to the elevators.

Back in her office, Amy buckled down to finish her to-do list she didn't get done the night before. First on her list was customer calls. She knew she could delegate the calls to the other three programmers under her but she took her fair share of them knowing they were both easy and a pain in the ass. If the client had no problems with the software they were easy. However if the client was having problems or didn't understand the software, they could be downright frustrating.

Halfway through her client call list, and in the middle of one such call, there was a knock on her office door. She looked up, surprised to see a very large arrangement of star-gazer lilies along with white and different shades of pink roses held by a kid who was probably in college. She held up one finger as she finished the call, at least it was an easy one. A few minutes later she hung up the phone and smiled at the obviously nervous delivery boy.

"Can I help you?" She had never had flowers delivered to her, ever.

"I have a flower delivery for a Amaya Kendrick."

Amy tilted her head slightly, "That's me, put them right here." She pointed to her desk.

He shuffled in and tried not to spill any water as he set the obviously heavy arrangement on her desk. "Can you sign here?" He thrust a clipboard at her once the vase was sitting securely on her desk. Amy scribbled her signature on the line and thanked him before he hurried out. Curious, she took the card sticking out of the middle of the large arrangement.

 _Amaya,_

 _I had a wonderful time on our date, and_

 _I'm looking forward to Friday._

 _And hopefully many more dates._

 _Ranger_

 _Carlos_

 _R_

The crossed out names made her laugh, knowing that he'd done it to be cute. She really was going to have to try to come up with a good nickname for him. She leaned forward and smelled one of the roses, they smelled even better than they looked.

"Hey Amy, I'm running down to the holy crap that is a huge floral arrangement!" Marcy stood in her office doorway, staring open-mouthed at the flowers.

"Yeah, it is a huge floral arrangement. Of my favorite two flowers." Amy was trying to figure out what to say or if she should even tell her who sent them because that was going to be the next question. She also was wondering if she should call Ranger to thank him for the flowers, or wait until their lunch, or email him.

"Where did those come from?" Marcy leaned down to smell the flowers and smiled at Amy. "Are you dating someone?"

"One date so far, but we've known each other for a while."

Marcy backed toward the door and yelped when she ran into something, or someone rather. Ranger had his hands on Marcy's shoulders to stop her from running into him.

"Oh Ranger, sorry! I was distracted by Amy's beautiful flowers. I wish my husband would send me flowers, or even just a flower." Ranger dropped his hands as Marcy finally stepped past him out the door.

"Thank You for the flowers. They really are beautiful." She was smiling and felt a tingle start at the top of her head and travel all the way down to her toes.

Ranger stepped closer so that only her desk separated them. "You're beautiful. The flowers come in somewhere much farther down the line. After you, my mom, my grandmothers, my sister, my daughter, your daughter, and then maybe the flowers."

Amy blushed, not just a little, but a dark shade of pink.

"So I take it you like the flowers."

She nodded, "They're lovely. I've never gotten flowers delivered to me before."

"I'm glad you like them." He put both hands on her desk and leaned toward her. "Did you tell Marcy who sent them?"

"No, she asked just before you walked in so I hadn't really got a chance to. I also wasn't sure if I should tell her it was you. I mean, are we telling people here we're dating?" Amy found herself leaning toward him.

"After last night in the garage, I'm pretty sure everyone already knows. But even if they didn't, I would say yes we're telling people here. Why wouldn't we?"

"I don't know. Your usually pretty private, and co-workers dating can be weird. So I just didn't know." Ranger closed the distance between them and lightly brushed his lips against hers. He pulled back and Amy was staring intently into his eyes. "I uh…I'll tell Marcy when she rushes in after you leave."

Ranger gave her a quick and quiet laugh, "I'll see you for lunch at say eleven-thirty? I had a client call last minute and he's coming in at 11, but I should definitely be done by then."

"I'll see you then." And he was gone.

As predicted Marcy rushed back in seconds after Ranger walked out.

"So who sent the flowers?!"

"Ranger, actually."

"Wha…but…wait…hunh?" Marcy looked utterly confused. "Like our boss Ranger? Who was just in here?"

Amy smiled and nodded, "One and the same."

"When did you start dating Ranger?"

"Well, technically only since last night. But we're also having lunch today and dinner Friday night. And possibly a thing Saturday."

Marcy's jaw dropped again. "That must've been a helluva date!"

"Well, it was a great date but I'll admit the flowers even surprised me."

"I was going to see what you were doing for lunch, but your busy. So, I'm going to go back out to my desk."

"Later this week maybe."

"You lucky woman."

Amy laughed a little, "Thanks Marcy."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

At exactly eleven-thirty Amy was knocking on Ranger's office door.

"Come In." Ranger didn't have to yell to be heard through the door.

Amy opened the door and found Ranger making notes on some paperwork while Tank lounged in one of the chairs in front of Ranger's desk.

"Bye Tank." Ranger said without looking up.

Tank was surprisingly graceful as he got up out of the chair and left the office.

"Just a minute Amy, I need to finish the changes to this contract from my meeting."

"Your fine." Amy sat and pulled out her iPhone. "I need to add a few things to my grocery list anyways."

Ranger lifted his head to give her a curious look. "You keep your grocery list on your phone?"

"Yeah, I always end up leaving written lists at home half the time. So I just keep a note for groceries on my phone instead. That way when I'm at work and suddenly remember I need to get some crab meat, green onions, cream cheese, and wonton wrappers to make homemade crab rangoons with Lexi tomorrow night I can put them on my list." She was typing the aforementioned items on her list as she spoke.

"You make your own crab rangoons?"

"Oh yeah, you have to. The ones most Chinese restaurants make are terrible unless your lucky enough to find a really good restaurant. I've found a few around here, but we've found that we like to make them at home ourselves."

"Huh," Ranger went back to his paperwork.

"I know they're not exactly healthy for you, which is why we only make them once in a while or for special occasions."

"And is tomorrow a special occasion or just because?"

"Just because." Amy closed her notes and went to her email. After deleting a bunch of junk emails and replying to a few quick business emails, Ranger was finally standing up and walking to the door.

"I hope you don't mind but I had Ella set out a spread for us upstairs in my apartment." Ranger said as they walked down the hall to the elevator.

"That sounds nice." Amy didn't want to think about the fact that they'd be in his apartment alone. She mentally berated herself for thinking like a love-struck teenager. They were adults, surely they could eat their lunch alone together in Ranger's apartment without jumping into bed. But the second the elevator doors closed she could actually feel the atmosphere change as they stood next to each other, with maybe an inch between their shoulders. She knew that Ranger was equally, if not more so, affected by her as she was by him.

"You wore that outfit today on purpose." He whispered without even looking at her.

She flushed a little and a barely noticeable flirty smirk slowly appeared on her face, "I have no idea what your talking about." She said quietly.

He growled, if she hadn't been intensely aware of him and listening so carefully for his as of yet unaffected breathing she wouldn't have heard it. But he had definitely made a gruff little sound in his throat. "I've never seen you wear a skirt and heels to work. You always wear pants."

She slightly lifted one shoulder, tilting her head down toward that shoulder and her smirk grew to a grin that had her eyes glowing flirtatiously. But she still wasn't looking at him and didn't say anything.

Ranger sucked in a quick breath and was just about to turn and pull her towards him when the elevator pinged and the doors opened to his outer entryway. He growled again, louder this time, as Amy stepped out without so much as looking at him.

Ranger opened his apartment door, and Amy wasn't the least bit surprised by what she saw. It was utilitarian in design but didn't lack for necessities. It was a mainly open floor plan. The kitchen was a dream for Amy because she loved to cook. It had a lot of counter space including a large island with stools on the back side, which was where there were plates set out for their lunch. The dining table was off to the far right of the kitchen, the living room took up the rest of the open area.

"I'll give you a quick tour before we eat." He motioned toward the open great room and kitchen, "Obviously this is the kitchen, dining, and living rooms. There's a bathroom to the left here, just in case you need it." He reached a hand in and turned the light on. "Right next to it is the office, it could be a bedroom but I've never needed a second bedroom. And the master bedroom and bathroom is just through there." He watched her carefully, he could tell that she was somewhat surprised by his apartment. "You look like my apartment wasn't what you expected."

She shrugged her shoulders as she walked toward the doorway to his bedroom, curious as to what it looked like. "The overall appearance doesn't surprise me at all, it matches your personality perfectly. But there's no distinguishing features anywhere. No family pictures hanging on the walls or displayed on shelves, no keepsakes. I don't know why, it just kind of surprised me."

"I missed the class on how to decorate your apartment in college I guess." He teased her. "I've never really thought about it. I've never really had the habit of displaying personal items, working Special Forces I never had anything personal with me. I didn't want the other side to find anything they could ever use against me."

Amy gave him a sad smile and stepped toward him placing a hand on the arms he had crossed in front of him. "I didn't think of that." She lightly squeezed his arm before pulling her hand back. "But maybe at your new house you should try putting a few more personal touches in."

He nodded "Let's eat. Ella made chicken salad sandwiches on whole wheat, fresh cut veggies with hummus dip, and because she knew you were joining me she said she left some of her homemade pickles." Ranger loved the way Amy's eyes got a little brighter at the mention of the pickles. "You like pickles that much?"

Amy nodded as she sat down on the stool Ranger had pulled out for her. "Well, I've always loved pickles but Ella's are hands down the best pickles I've ever had."

Ranger sat next to her, "You know she would probably give you a few jars to take home if you asked her."

"Oh I've gotten some from her. I ran out at home a couple weeks ago, Lexi likes them just as much as I do so they go fast in our house. But Ella didn't have any ready until yesterday. She already left a few jars in my office this morning."

Ranger couldn't help but lift one corner of his mouth in a smile. "That doesn't surprise me."

They were both silent for a few minutes as they started eating their lunch. Ranger suddenly realized they didn't have drinks.

"What can I get you to drink?" He went to the fridge.

"Water is fine."

He came back with two bottles of water.

"Are you sure I can't take you out for dinner tonight?"

She shook her head, "No," she said around a mouthful of chicken salad.

"What if I bring you dinner?"

Amy turned to the side to give him a teasing glare. "I really can't. Wednesday night is girls night, Lexi has requested manicures and pedicures and then we'll go eat somewhere."

Ranger picked up a carrot stick and took a bite, "Fine." He left her alone for a few more minutes as she finished her sandwich and picked up a pickle spear. He had to keep from chuckling as he watched her close her eyes and savor the first bite of the pickle. "So Friday night, if I tell you an idea will you at least let me know if I'm anywhere close to being right?"

"That's cheating." Amy threw him a teasing sideways glare.

"Okay, let's try this. I'll ask you three questions, and in return you can ask me three questions."

"I don't need to know about your ideal date." She teased.

He gave her a small smirk. "My questions will be in relation to your ideal date, but your questions for me can be about anything."

Amy narrowed her eyes a little as she watched him. "I can ask you anything and you'll answer?"

He nodded, "Anything."

She pursed her lips a little and finally nodded. "Deal. But you have to go first."

"Fair enough." He grabbed another carrot stick and took a bite, considering what questions he wanted to ask. "First question, do you like boats?"

Amy turned to look at Ranger, "That's totally not a question I was expecting. But yes, I do like boats." The question threw her off, but not enough for her to changer her first question. "Are we just casually dating or are you hoping this will go some where?"

Ranger found himself equally as surprised by her first question. "I really like you, I'm hoping this will go some where." He didn't miss the way her eyes changed, from guarded to open, but he moved on. "Okay, question two. What's your favorite kind of food?"

"That was expected, and really easy to answer. I love Italian food. I workout strictly to keep the bread and pasta from sticking to my flabby momma belly and hips and turning into a full blown muffin top."

That statement made Ranger laugh, a genuine deep belly laugh. He got himself under control finally and turned himself so he was facing her. "Look at me." He waited until she complied. "I'm laughing because you aren't even close to having a muffin top. I don't know what you looked like before you had Lexi, but I never would've guessed you had a kid just judging by your looks. You are fit enough to challenge Cal to a boxing match, and I'm pretty sure you have once or twice." She nodded while he kept talking. "You don't have to worry about the bread and pasta sticking anywhere."

"Thanks." She knew she was decent shape but she hadn't been able to totally get rid of her 'momma pouch' as she usually called it. Spanx were her best friend when she wore any kind of dress. "My turn. Do you want any more kids?" This question had her holding her breath. She definitely wanted more kids. If he didn't it could be a deal breaker for her.

"I'll be honest, if you'd have asked me that a year ago I would've said No. But now," he stopped and looked into her eyes to be sure she saw that he was completely open to her. "I wouldn't mind having more." She nodded. He continued. "And my question. Where would you go on vacation if you could literally go anywhere?"

She cocked her head slightly, thrown again by his question. "You know, I've never really thought about that before. But I would love to go somewhere tropical that isn't really touristy. The private ocean villa's in Bora Bora would be amazing. Or a private island in the Maldives. The one thing I miss about Florida is warm beaches." Ranger filed that information away.

"That's my kind of vacation." He admitted.

"You promised you'd answer any question right?" He just nodded, a little afraid of where she was going. "What happened with you and Stephanie?"

He took a slow deep breath and let it out. "She and I just couldn't ever get to the same page at the same time. We had that big capture about eight months ago, that jackass Larry Flynn. My mom really took that one hard. Worse than that thing with Scrog a few years back. She literally smacked me upside the head when she saw me in that hospital bed, after she found out I was going to make a full recovery that is. We had a big talk. It mainly centered on my past working special forces then doing some not totally official jobs for the government from time to time. She knew I was afraid of settling down and my past coming back to haunt me. Then she reminded me that even without my past, there were no guarantees in life. About a month after I got out of the hospital, I sat down and talked to Stephanie. I told her that I wasn't going to do the casual thing any more, I wanted to settle down and maybe start a family. As you can guess, we weren't on the same page. It actually ended amicably enough. But she really doesn't want to settle down. And I found that I couldn't sit around and wait to see if she'd change her mind." He watched her eyes go back to guarded. "I'm not waiting, Amy. I don't ever want you to think that I'm passing the time with you. I was serious before when I said that I really like you. The feelings I have for you, I've never had for anyone before."

"It's the same for me. I've never felt like this about anyone else."

Ranger closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, "I wish I didn't some really important meetings this afternoon. Being here with you in my apartment is just so tempting."

Amy sucked in an unsteady breath at his admission. "We still have thirty minutes." Here eyes got huge and she covered her mouth with one hand. "I can't believe I said that! I'm sorry. That was crass. I have no idea…I feel like an idiot. Please erase that from your memory." She knew her entire face was quickly turning from pink to red the more Ranger just stared at her with his nostrils slightly flared.

"Thirty minutes is nowhere near enough time to do what I want to do to you right now, especially not for our first time." He grabbed her hands in his and brought them to his mouth, lightly brushing a kiss to the back of each hand. "Friday night."

"Oh, well then I hope you have the perfect date planned." Her voice was a little husky and she gave him that subtle seductive smile that drove him crazy.

Ranger gave her an intense and heated look before winking at her. He turned back to his lunch and could tell that she was still sitting there dumbstruck.

They spent the rest of their lunch break just talking and learning more about each other. Both were reluctant to go back to their respective offices, Ranger walked her back to hers.

"I'll pick you up at 6 on Friday, I hope that gives you enough time to get home and be ready for our date."

Amy nodded, "It's enough time for sure."

Before she could retreat into her office Ranger grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to him. She was looking up into eyes for one second before he lowered his mouth and kissed her. They were kissing in her office doorway where anyone and everyone could see them. He pulled back after about a minute and gave her his barely noticeable smile that she was learning was something he did around her a lot.

"Later." And then he was gone.

Amy looked around, suddenly remembering where she was and what they had just been doing. No one was looking at her, but she saw a few heads of employees in the cubicles. She was pretty sure they all had seen. Suddenly feeling a little embarrassed she retreated to her office, leaving her door open as was her habit. As soon as she sat at her desk she saw the ridiculously huge vase of flowers and just smiled. Friday really couldn't get there any faster.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank You to everyone for reading! I'm sorry I haven't replied to the reviews-I'm new to the whole posting/publishing on FanFiction but it's been such a great experience so far!**

 **I'll try to post regularly as time allows. Right now I don't have a lot of time, I have four kids(ages 7.5, 6, 3.5, and 2) and my husband is a farmer and we're right in the middle of harvest. So spare time is a luxury I don't really have a lot of right now. But I'm trying.**

 **I hope your all enjoying the story. Keep leaving feedback, I promise I read each and every review and appreciate your thoughts and opinions.** **J**

Chapter 5

"Hey sweetie!" Amy loved that Lexi was always so excited to see her when she picked her up from daycare every day. Lexi practically ran across the room and into Amy's arms.

"Mommy!" She held onto Amy's hand as they walked out of the daycare center to Amy's car.

"I need to stop at home to change really quick before our nail appointment. And I hope you don't mind some shopping at the mall tonight too, I need some new clothes, what about you?"

"Yeah! Can we go to Build-A-Bear, please mommy?" Amy glanced back at Lexi in her rearview mirror for just a moment before looking back to the road, and saw that she had on her best sad little puppy face.

"Not tonight. We're getting our nails done tonight. But next week for girls night we can go to Build-A-Bear. Deal?"

"Deal!"

They stopped at their house for a quick ten minute outfit change and to let their three-year old tricolor Corgi Flynn-Lexi had been obsessed with the movie Tangled when they got him as a puppy-out for a quick potty break. After changing into jeans and a fitted v-neck blue cotton shirt, she traded her heels for a pair of flip flops to take advantage of the warm September weather before it got cold and they headed back out.

Serenity Nail Salon was thankfully only fifteen minutes from their house. They were there for an hour getting their finger and toe nails painted. Lexi picked out a very bright metallic purple and had an ear-to-ear grin the entire time. Amy had a hard time choosing between a dark pink or a dark red, but ended up going with the red for her toes and a peach color for her fingers to keep it a bit calmer.

Dinner was thankfully not a fight since Lexi typically preferred to eat better food than fast food drive-thru. She chose a café by the nail salon. Lexi ordered their homemade mac and cheese, which was hands down the best mac and cheese Amy had ever eaten. Amy however opted to eat a little lighter knowing they were going to the mall to find some new dating attire. She currently didn't have any nice clothes other than her work outfits and her "PTA mom" sweaters and slacks. So she ordered a Caesar salad with grilled chicken.

"Okay Lex, I need you to help me find some cute new outfits. Everything I have is for work, or it's boring." Amy said as they walked into a women's store at the mall.

"Why do you need new outfits?"

"Well, I just like to wear kind of dressy outfits sometimes instead of just my jeans and t-shirts." She said as she looked through a rack of loose silky blouses.

"Oh, I thought maybe you needed dating clothes or something."

Amy looked down at Lexi as she froze completely in shock. "What in the world are you talking about? What do you know about dating?"

"Kristie's big sister Sabrina talks about it all the time when I'm at their house. She has a boyfriend who she goes out on dates with a lot. She's always going shopping for new dating clothes." Lexi explained it very calm and nonchalantly like it was no big deal. "You should date mom. Emma's dad is always buying her mom flowers and her parents take turns putting her to bed and doing stuff with her. It would be nice for you to have that."

Amy's heart swelled and she swore it was about to burst right out of her chest. How she managed to have such a sweet daughter with a man who ended up being such an asshole was totally beyond her level of understanding. But she felt incredibly lucky and blessed by her little girl.

Crouching down to look into her eyes, Amy held Lexi's hands and tried to keep the tears that were threatening to fall at bay. "Some day when I meet someone who I think deserves to be in your life, I'll date him and you can meet him. I don't want to waste time meeting guys who would probably end up being not so nice when I would much rather spend that time with you honey. "

"I guess." Lexi lifted one shoulder, she still didn't act like their conversation was as important as it was, at least to Amy. "But it would be kind of nice for me to have someone who could be like a dad. Plus I really want a little sister." She looked hopefully to Amy.

"We'll have to see what happens Lexi. I would really like for you to have a little sister, or a little brother, someday too."

Suddenly Lexi pointed to the other side of the store, "You should try that dress on mom."

Just like that the subject was dropped and changed. Amy tried to push it out of her mind, at least for the rest of their evening. Truth be told it bothered her though, that Lexi seemed to want a father figure in her life. Somehow that thought had never occurred to Amy before. After everything with Troy, she just focused on Lexi and the divorce and getting them away from him. Then they moved and she focused on getting them settled into their new life and devoted all of her spare time to her daughter. Now she found herself hoping that this thing she and Ranger had started would really work out.

Amy tried on the dress since Lexi was so adamant about it. It wasn't her usual style, it was a really pretty turquoise knee-length dress with a scoop-neck and elbow-length sleeves. It fit her perfectly and she was surprised at how much she really did like it. She wouldn't wear it Friday night but it was definitely a good date night dress. They moved on to another store where Amy found the perfect outfit for Friday night. She saw an adorable high-waist full skirt in black and just had to try it on. She ended up going with a scoop-neck short sleeve shirt in light pink tucked into the skirt and even let the saleswoman talk her into a thick charcoal grey belt and a light grey button-down cardigan to "finish off the look."

Their next stop was for shoes. She found some cute and basic silver heels that had a strap across the toes and a skinny ankle strap to hold them on to go with the turquoise dress. But she fell in love with the gorgeous light pink open-toe wedges she bought to go with her date night outfit. She couldn't wait to see the look on Ranger's face when he picked her up Friday night. That thought had her trying on, and buying, a couple more pair of black heels in different styles and heights to wear to work. She really enjoyed knowing that the outfit she wore to work today had gotten him so riled up.

Thursday morning Amy decided to put a little twist on her usual work outfit. She decided on black slacks, one of her new pairs of black heels, and another black button-down Rangeman shirt. That morning she was incredibly grateful for her elbow-length hair, which she usually left down in it's naturally wavy style or pinned it up. Instead she loosely braided it to drape over her right shoulder. She and Lexi went through their usual morning routine then Lexi was off to school and Amy was making the short drive to Rangeman.

She felt dumb for feeling so anxious and excited to see Ranger. As she pulled into the underground parking garage at Rangeman she found herself immediately looking through the fleet of black Rangeman vehicles to see if he was there or off on location somewhere. She spotted the Cayenne and figured he was probably there. As per her usual routine she went by the employee lounge for a bottle of water on her way to her office. And after admiring her gorgeous flowers for a few moments she sat at her desk and got started on her day.

Her e-mail pinged at 10am, she glanced at her computer to see who it was from and found herself get excited when she saw that it was from Ranger. She mentally chastised herself. He was her boss, it was probably just about the new software. But it wasn't. After scanning it quickly she clicked on the attached file and a video popped up. Just as Ranger had predicted, Tank had taken the recording of Amy and Ranger making out in the garage-which the guys in the control room had been kind enough to zoom in on them even-and had added the song _Bad_ by Michael Jackson.

She had to laugh, but watching the video seemed so strange. Especially since they were really doing some hot and heavy making out. They'd have to try to remember to not make out where there were cameras recording their every move. Before she could reply to Ranger her e-mail pinged again.

From: Carlos Manoso

Subject: Lunch

Date: September 8 2016 09:18

To: Amaya Kendrick

Unless you have other plans for lunch already I was hoping to talk you into joining me again. It seems that Ella knows more about your favorite foods than I do since she offered to make Rueben lettuce wraps and fresh tomato, basil, and mozzarella with balsamic vinaigrette. She said it's one of your favorite lunches. I think we have some more talking to do yet since my housekeeper knows more about you than I do.

R

Amy couldn't help but chuckle a little bit, Ella did know a lot about Amy. Partly because when she first started with Rangeman in Trenton and didn't know that many people, Ella would sit and keep Amy company for lunch a few days a week. As much as Amy enjoyed sandwiches, she did try to reduce the amount of bread she ate so lettuce wraps were a good alternative. And she was a total sucker for fresh sliced tomatoes with just a little salt, but add some fresh mozzarella and basil drizzled with balsamic vinegar and oil and she could eat a whole plate.

From: Amaya Kendrick

Subject: RE:Lunch

Date: September 8 2016 09:21

To: Carlos Manoso

R

That is in fact one of my favorite lunches that Ella makes. As hard as I've tried to make them at home, it's just never quite the same as hers. In answer to your question, I do not have plans for lunch. Same time and place?

Amy

Amy tried to go back to her work but she found herself waiting for Ranger's reply. The upside to her being a programmer, was dual computer screens. So she had her email open on the right and her actual work open on the left. She was staring at the left screen trying to remember what she was even doing. After about thirty seconds she finally remembered and tried to get back to going through all of the details of the security software that Brigg's had implemented. She hadn't heard back from Lester or Pete yet, but she could at least familiarize herself with the account and maybe try to troubleshoot without having to go out there. The familiar ping of a new email made her switch screens.

From: Carlos Manoso

Subject: RE:Lunch

Date: September 8 2016 09:25

To: Amaya Kendrick

Yes.

R

By the way, I'm a little disappointed you didn't wear another skirt today.

Amy sucked in a quick breath at the last sentence. She probably shouldn't ever wear a skirt in to work again, they'd certainly end up doing inappropriate things in his apartment during the work day. Or worse in his office where anyone could walk in on them. That was just the type of thing she wanted to avoid to prevent any more heckling from Tank, or any of the other employees.

From: Amaya Kendrick

Subject: RE:Lunch

Date: September 8 2016 09:27

To: Carlos Manoso

R

I'll be there.

Amy

PS. After yesterday I think skirts in the workplace are probably a little too much for you.

Amy waited five minutes for a reply. When it appeared she wouldn't get one she went back to work. She was in the middle of looking over the Brigg's software specifications when she felt someone watching her. She looked over her should and saw Ranger standing in her doorway leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Skirts in the workplace definitely aren't too much. Especially when your legs look amazing." He straightened and walked over to her as she turned in her chair so she was facing him. Ranger came to a stop between her desk and credenza and leaned back against her desk so he was facing her. "I think you should wear skirts more often. Every day, in fact."

Amy couldn't hold back the laughter at the last statement. "I only own two black skirts, one isn't really business casual so technically I have one. And to be honest I don't wear the skirt because I'm not always sure what I'll be doing on any given day. I don't really like to do defensive tactics training in a skirt."

"That could be interesting to watch." Ranger said with his signature smirk. "Well unfortunately I actually stopped by for business. Lester and Pete have found some wiring that may be causing the problems at Brigg's. Lester said he would call you in a few hours if that doesn't solve the issue."

"I was just going through the software package they ordered to double check that there wasn't any known problems with any of the features they have. So far everything seems to check out. There's no new software patches. They downloaded an update last week, but that was a standard update that everyone with that same base package was forced to download. No one else has reported having any issues with it. If the wiring doesn't fix the problem I'll have to go out there this afternoon."

"If it's not the wiring, we'll both be going out there this afternoon. I'm probably going to have to offer Jackson Brigg's some free software features to keep him as a client if we can't get this thing figured out fast."

"My bet is on the wiring." Amy's phone started playing the song 'I fought the law" which made Ranger tilt his head ever so slightly to the side with a curious look on his face. "That's Lester." She answered and had a very short conversation verifying that the problem was the wiring. After she hung up Ranger was still giving her the questioning look. "What?"

"Your ringtone."

"Oh, that's just the ringtone I use for all of the Rangeman employees."

"Even mine?" His look changed from curious to slightly mischievous and a little bit heated.

"I don't actually have a different ringtone for you."

"That kind of hurts my feelings."

"I can make it the theme from Cops." She teased.

He looked like he was considering it for a few seconds before replying. "Bad by Michael Jackson would probably be better."

Amy flushed a little at the reminder of that song. "Yeah, or not. I'll have to come up with a good ringtone for you. Right after I figure out a nickname."

"Nothing ridiculous please."

"For the ringtone or the nickname?"

"Both."

"Rick?"

"Ric, R-i-c, is my dad. I told you that Ranger or Carlos is fine."

"I know. But I want a different name to call you. I could just call you honey, baby, babe…"

"Not babe." He interrupted firmly.

"Okay, not babe. Sweetie?" She could see in his eyes that Ranger was not impressed with any of her suggestions so far. "I'm teasing!"

"Good. I'm definitely not answering to Sweetie. Or Baby."

"Okay." Amy laughed. "I should probably get back to work."

"Lunch. 11:30. I'll come by and get you on my way up."

"Works for me."

Ranger and Amy definitely utilized the full hour of their lunch break talking and getting to know more about each other. Amy was still a bit reserved about her ex-husband. She did reveal that her ex Troy was in prison in Florida for vehicular manslaughter, DUI third, and aggravated domestic assault. After the divorce was final she changed her name, and Lexi's, to her maiden name in an attempt to cut all ties with her ex. Ranger admitted that he'd never really had a serious relationship other than with his first wife and mother of his only daughter, and even that hadn't really been the best relationship.

The more they talked and learned about each other, they both started to feel comfortable with one another. Ranger confessed that he had in fact memorized her employee file so he could learn as much as he could about her before he asked her out on their first date. Amy admitted that she'd had a crush on him ever since she started working for him. By the time they went back to their offices for the afternoon Amy knew they were both pretty invested already. Although Ranger wouldn't give any hints, she just knew that their date the next night was going to be amazing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank You all for the positive encouragement, again, it means so much! Harvest is over, but a farmer's work isn't done until the ground freezes so I'm still short on time. But I'm still trying to get some writing in. Enjoy the latest chapter, I made it a long one, and I'll try to get the next one done quicker.** **J**

 **As always, the characters-most of them anyways-belong to JE, the rest is just the rambling musings of a long-time JE fan.**

Chapter 6

Friday was nearly a repeat of the day before. Evidently they were going to be having lunch together in Ranger's apartment every day. And Amy was more than okay with that. They talked and teased and had a great time together. Although she was pretty sure that their second date was going to end back at his place, which may also change how they spend their lunch breaks. At least Amy was hoping their date tonight ended the way she was hoping.

As usual Amy was walking out of her office at exactly five pm that day. Emma's mom had called at four-thirty to let her know she'd just picked Lexi up from daycare. So Amy made the short drive to her house to get ready for her second date with Ranger.

Flynn met her at the door, anxious to be let outside. Amy unlocked the doggy door built in to the dining room wall and Flynn bolted through it. She had about forty-five minutes to prepare for her date, she planned on using every minute.

Amy started by going to her bedroom, stripping on her way across her room to the ensuite bathroom. She perched on the edge of the bath tub and lathered shaving lotion on her legs as hot water ran. After she had thoroughly shaved her legs and arm pits she went to the adjoining closet. She carefully considered her underwear options and went with a matching nude lace bra and boyshort underwear. Back in the bathroom she lotioned her legs and arms, then went back to her closet to start dressing. Carrying her sweater and shoes out to her bed, she glanced at her watch to check the time and was reminded she needed to take off her simple black athletic watch she wore for work. Back in the bathroom she replaced the watch with her nicer white-banded watch with cubic zirconias around the face. And she had approximately twenty-five minutes to finish dressing, touch up her make up, and do something with her hair.

At five fifty-five Amy was sliding on her open-toe wedges and pulling her sweater on simultaneously. She had just started down the stairs when her doorbell rang. Of course Ranger would be early. She rushed to the front door and didn't have the luxury of stopping to compose herself for a minute because of the huge decorative oval of glass in the middle of the front door. It had some patterned and frosted glass but still wouldn't hide her straightening her sweater and making sure her hair was perfect.

"You are frustratingly punctual." She said as soon as she opened the door.

"As if I'd be anything else." He gave her his signature smirk that she had learned he reserved only for her these days.

"Please come in for a moment. I just need to let Flynn back in and grab my purse then we're good to go." She quickly turned back toward the kitchen. "Make yourself at home!" Amy said without looking back. She went to the sliding patio door and Flynn raced in, he knew someone new was over so he was anxious to check him out. Amy detoured through the kitchen after locking the doggy door to get her purse. And after double-checking that all doors and windows were still locked she finally went back to the front entry way/living room and found Ranger crouched down scratching Flynn's belly. Flynn had shameless rolled to his back at Ranger's feet, as he was prone to do with people he liked. That was when Amy noticed the huge bouquet of flowers Ranger had evidently had behind his back when she'd let him in. Or he had them right in front of her face and she was too preoccupied with getting the house locked up for the night to notice.

"For you, of course." He smiled as he straightened up and held the flowers out to her.

"Thank You! How in the world did you know that Roses and Star Gazer Lilies are my favorite flowers? No one here knows that." He winked at her which sent a shiver down her spine and made her body respond automatically. The man was dangerous.

"I have my ways." He said.

"Well, let me put these in a vase really quick. Then I promise I'm ready to go."

He followed her to the kitchen and stood at the island while she set the flowers by the sink then went to the china cabinet in the dining room to find a vase.

"No rush. I honestly wasn't sure if you could actually get ready in forty or forty-five minutes so there's no need to rush. You look amazing by the way."

She blushed as she looked up at him, "Thank You." She held his gaze for a few moments before filling the vase three quarters full of water. "I'm actually annoyingly punctual, like you, ninety-five percent of the time." She said as she started arranging the flowers in the vase one by one.

"And the other five percent of the time?"

"Well I do have a six-year old. So even though I try to make sure there's extra time in our schedule, she sometimes still needs more. And like most women, it's usually because of shoes or clothes. Mostly shoes."

Ranger chuckled at that.

"If your going to give me flowers before or after every date, I'm going to have a gorgeous and amazing smelling house." Amy said as she put the last few flowers in the vase.

"Was that a complaint?" Ranger tilted his head slightly to one side, still wearing his signature smirk.

Amy smiled and her eyes warmed, "Not in the least." She finally looked away only to take the vase and put it in the middle of the dining room table. "Okay, let's go." Amy said as she grabbed her purse off the kitchen island and headed to the front door, Ranger following behind her.

They got into Ranger's 911 GT3, he of course opened her door for her-ever the gentleman. They sat silently, Amy wondering where they were going as they got on the 295. She stayed silent until they got off the 295 and onto Hwy 206.

"Where exactly are we going for our date?"

Ranger looked over at her for a second and winked then looked back to the road. "You'll see."

She eyed him suspiciously but couldn't stop herself from smiling. Ranger looked so relaxed and happy that she didn't care where he took her on their date. Anywhere that he was would be her ideal date, it didn't matter where they were going or what he had planned. So she just watched the scenery as they drove down the road.

Ten minutes later they were getting off the highway and Amy noticed a sign for Princeton. Ranger's eyes shot over to her for a moment to see if she'd seen the sign, and of course she had. She was starting to get a little suspicious now, he could tell. He was just waiting for her to start asking questions. But surprisingly she just sat and watched everything go by through the window.

He drove further west off the highway and seeming to be heading out of town. They left the last of the new developments behind and it suddenly hit Amy, she knew exactly where they were going. He pulled off the highway onto a gravel road and after a few miles he turned into a gated driveway. Rolling down his window, he punched a code into the keypad and the gates swung open for them. The drive way was about another mile long. Amy was sitting attentively in her seat taking in the huge expanse of the property. If the locked gate wasn't enough, seeing the house through the break in the trees ahead immediately gave it away as Ranger's personal property.

Ranger pulled the low slung car around the circle drive and parked right in front of the house. Ever the gentleman he got out and rounded the hood to open her door and even took her hand to help her out of the car.

"I'm pretty sure you've figured it out, but this is my new house."

Amy smiled and gave a single nod, "It's amazing." She looked straight up at the massive front of the brick and stucco exterior and couldn't believe the size. She wasn't expecting a house this big. "It's huge, but I think it looks gorgeous."

"Wait until you see the inside." He smiled and started up the front stairs to the door, pulling her by the hand behind him. Not surprisingly he had to enter another code at the front door to unlock it, and after walking in he went straight to a security panel to type in another code to deactivate the interior motion alarms and cameras.

"So this is obviously the foyer." He stood in the center and then pointed to the stairs immediately to her left, "That goes to the basement. There's a full size basketball court, a complete home gym with a regulation-size boxing ring. I'm going to be renovating one of the storage rooms to be a home theater. If you want to go down and check it all out we can. Otherwise I thought we could actually start upstairs."

"If you've seen one home gym and personal basketball court, you've seen them all right?" Amy teased.

That comment made Ranger smile, which was a change from his usual smirk. Amy couldn't help but smile even bigger in return.

"Okay, let's head up then." They walked through the foyer and went up the stairs on the left. Once they reached the top and circled around the two level foyer to the upstairs hallway you could go left or right, immediately in front of them overlooked the first floor formal living room. "To the left is two bedrooms. Every bedroom has it's own bathroom."

"Can I check them out?" Amy motioned to her left.

"Absolutely." Ranger led the way and reached in to turn the lights on in each of the bedrooms.

Amy went into the one on the left first and was already impressed. "This is the same size, or maybe even bigger than my bedroom." She walked across the hall past Ranger to the other bedroom and noted that this bedroom had it's own small sitting area with windows and a stunning view of the sunset. "This puts my view to shame, it's beautiful."

Ranger was standing in the doorway watching Amy's reaction, "Your house is also in the middle of Trenton."

She waved a hand dismissively, "I know, but still. This isn't even the Master." Amy walked back to Ranger, "Lead the way."

Walking back down the hallway and past the stairs Ranger stopped between two more doors, "Bedrooms on the left and right again." He reached in and flipped on the lights in both.

Amy looked in the one on the right and saw it was small compared to the other two she'd seen. "This is probably closer to the size of my room." She looked in the one on the left and saw it was much bigger than the first two rooms. "Is this the Master? Holy crap the sitting area is just as big as the bedroom area!"

Ranger just stood in the doorway, leaning against the jam. "This isn't the Master."

"Are you for real?!" She turned and gave him a crazy-eyed glance before continuing across the room to the sitting area. "This room is amazing."

He smirked and gave her a nod. "Shall we continue?"

"How many more rooms are there up here?" She wasn't really expecting an answer so she wasn't surprised when he stayed silent.

They stopped at another set of stairs going down to the right, "That goes down to the hallway outside the family room and the entryway from the other garage."

"Other garage? How many garages are there?"

"Two separate garages attached to the house. A two-stall on the south side and a three stall across the courtyard connected to the house by a breezeway, which we'll walk over in a minute." He pointed to the door at the top of the stairs, "That is another bedroom, kind of a second Master Suite."

Amy just stared at him for a few seconds before walking past him to the door to look in. "This is the second Master? What makes the first Master better?"

"It's bigger." Ranger followed behind her, stepping a few feet into the bedroom before stopping.

"Okay, seriously, is this house for you and your whole family or what?"

"Eventually."

"This closet is the size of my closet and bathroom!"

Ranger was still smirking.

"Okay, what in the world could be left up here?" Amy asked as they walked back out to the hallway.

"Another bedroom," he pointed to the last door she could see on the left. "And the laundry room." He pointed to the door on the right.

She shook her head and peeked in the last bedroom door. "Almost every bedroom has it's own sitting area. I'm pretty sure two of my entire houses could fit in just the upstairs of your house. This is crazy. If I were in the kitchen screaming for help and you were up here, you wouldn't even hear me!"

"There's intercoms."

Amy actually laughed at that. "Of course there's intercoms." She stood in the hallway and noticed a door at the end. "So where does that go?"

"The guest house above the three-car garage."

"Are you serious?"

Ranger just gave her a single nod.

"Lead the way."

Ranger opened the door at the end of the hallway and they were met with cooler air. "This is above the breezeway below so it's not really heated. The stairs ahead go down to the breezeway and the garage." Amy nodded but stayed silent. "And this is the guest house, or it could be an in-law suite, or a nanny's apartment." He flipped on the light and Amy could see a living and dining room and kitchen that was about the size of her own at home. "It's one bedroom."

"This is insane."

Ranger watched her carefully, but she seemed to really enjoy seeing the house. All of her comments had been teasing or just out of surprise. The house was huge. He would be surprised if she wasn't a bit overwhelmed by the house.

"We'll go down to the breezeway back to the house."

Amy nodded, "Sounds good."

Going through the breezeway gave Amy her first view of the garages. "Planning on getting more cars?"

"I have three, the other two can be for guests. Or you."

Amy stopped just outside the door to the house and turned to look at Ranger, "I get my own place to park when I come out here?"

"Of course."

"Can I pick a bedroom too?" she teased.

"Well I hope you'll pick mine." He put both hands on her waist and pulled her to him.

"Maybe I will. I still haven't seen the first Master bedroom of this monstrosity you call a house." She had her head tilted back so she could look into his gorgeous brown eyes.

"Saving the best room for last." He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a light kiss. Amy's lips were soft and pliant under his. He'd only meant for it to be a quick kiss, but he just couldn't stop. The kiss deepened and Ranger slowly pushed her back against the door. Caught off guard by the way the kiss changed Amy opened her mouth to pull in a quick breath, Ranger took advantage and thrust his tongue into her mouth massaging her tongue with his. His hands started to roam, one to her ass and the other up her back to tangle in her long brown hair.

Amy's hands were doing some roaming of their own. While Ranger gripped her hair and pulled her head further back to kiss his way to her ear and down her neck, Amy was busy mapping his arms and back. He stopped on her ear, nibbling on it for a few seconds, causing her to grip his large biceps in her hands. She couldn't stop the small moan from escaping.

Ranger grazed his way back to her lips, giving her a few short kisses before pulling back just enough to look into her eyes. "Let's finish the tour then we can have supper."

"Where are we going for supper? Or is that a surprise too?"

"We're eating here."

"Here? As in at your house?" Amy looked equal parts surprised and confused.

Ranger nodded, "I've got a grill out on the patio and Ella was kind enough to stock the fridge with everything I need to cook us dinner."

"Your cooking us dinner?"

"Why is that so surprising?"

"I'm not sure. I guess just because I've never really known you to be fond of cooking."

"I'll admit that it's not one of my favorite things to do. However there are times when cooking a meal is much more preferable to eating out, this is definitely one of those times." He reached up and gently brushed the tips of his fingers down one side of her face then cupped her cheek. "I like spending time with you, especially when there aren't outside distractions. If I cook for you, you can sit in the kitchen with me and we can talk while I take care of preparing dinner." He leaned down and lightly brushed his lips to hers. "Now let's go inside and finish the tour."

Amy couldn't do anything but nod. Every time Ranger touched her she could feel all of her nerve endings tingle and burn, she never wanted him to stop touching her. She had already become addicted to his touch. He was a dangerous man to be attracted to. She never would have imagined that he was having very similar thoughts to hers.

Walking into the entryway Amy could see the huge family room and kitchen to their right. "I love this kitchen! Well I love to cook so a kitchen like this would be a dream."

"You're more than welcome to cook in it anytime you like. As long as you share with me." He teased as he pulled her down the hallway. "The dining room on the left, which is right next to the foyer. And the formal living room here." He pointed to their right but didn't stop until he got to the bottom of the stairs they'd gone up before. "The library slash home office is just through here." He pointed ahead. "And a half bathroom just outside."

Amy stepped ahead into the library. "I love this room. It's my favorite." She turned a complete circle admiring the finish on the oak and the beamed ceiling above her. Finally her eyes met Ranger's. "We still haven't seen the Master bedroom."

"I saved the best for last. This way." He led her by the hand back to the formal living room and they walked across it to the double doors at the back of the room. He pushed both open at the same time and Amy stopped about two feet inside.

A massive California King bed sat on a platform in the middle of the wall to the left. Windows on the other sides of the octagonal-shaped room let in the last of the setting sun. The walls in this room were newly painted, whereas all of the other areas had paint chips taped to the walls for ideas. While she soaked in the amazing light teal-colored walls and different shades of grey from the carpet to the ceiling and the bedding, Ranger made his way to the fireplace and pushed the button to light it.

"You've already done this room?"

He nodded but stayed by the fireplace, "My contractor technically can't start until I officially take possession next week, but I was anxious to start on the house. And it was a foreclosure so it was already empty, my realtor and lawyer were able to speed up some of the paperwork. The house is mine technically, just not officially yet. So I paid my contractor extra to have his flooring guy come out to replace the carpet in here. Tank and I painted, believe it or not. I chose the colors and bedding. But of course if you absolutely hate it, it can all be changed easily enough." He stopped when he noticed Amy was just staring at him.

"You keep dropping hints and aren't exactly being subtle so I'm going to just come out and ask, are you asking me to move in with you?"

Ranger walked to her and took her hands in his. "No, I'm not asking you to move in with me. Yet. But I've told you already that I'm not a casual dater. So I expect that you'll be here a lot. And I'm assuming that at some point in the not so distant future I will be asking you to move in here. So I care what you think about how this room is painted because eventually it'll be yours as well. Just like I'll be asking for your opinion on how all of the other bedrooms should be painted and decorated. Lexi can pick any bedroom upstairs she wants and paint and decorate it however she'd like as well. I told you before, I'm all in."

Amy just stood there in total shock for a full thirty seconds before her brow furrowed and Ranger could almost literally hear the wheels in her brain turning.

"Ranger!" he watched her with his usual carefully blank expression. "You bought a freaking mansion!"

"Well that's a bit of an overstatement."

"How many square feet is this house?"

"I'm not sure."

Amy pointed her finger at him with barely an inch between her finger and the end of his nose. "Bullshit. You know everything. This "house" has six bedrooms," she did air quotes when she said house, "and it has a freaking regulation size basketball court and boxing ring in the basement! Not to mention the one-bedroom in-law suite/apartment over the second garage. You know how many square feet this house is probably down to the nearest inch. Tell me."

"Ballpark, about 8500 square feet."

Amy just stared at him for a full minute. Then she turned a circle in the large Master suite. "Okay, before we go any further tonight I have to ask," she watched him carefully and could tell that he was steeling himself for a really hard question. "Just how many more kids do you want to have?"

Ranger watched her for about ten seconds before he suddenly started laughing. Amy watched him curiously with her eyebrows furrowed but stayed silent for the three minutes it took Ranger to finish laughing compose himself. "I was expecting something else entirely to come out of your mouth."

"Like what?"

"Like, if I expected you to clean the whole thing or be a stay at home wife. Tank asked me today if I was dating you to have someone to clean this place. Honestly I thought you were going to tell me you had changed your mind about dating me."

Amy gave him a small smile, "First, I know that you wouldn't expect me to clean this whole thing or stay at home. Second, considering I haven't dated…at all…since my now ex-husband you should already know I'm not that vapid. And third, how is what I asked any less serious?"

"What you asked is definitely serious. It's just not at all what I was expecting. In answer to that question, We will how ever many kids you and I decide to have." Ranger noticed her eyes widen and her mouth open slightly as she sucked in air suddenly. "I keep telling you that I'm serious about us. I haven't dated really since Julie's mom Rachel actually. But if you want one or two or none, I'm okay with whatever."

Amy just nodded slightly then cleared her throat. "So do you need help making dinner?"

"Changing the subject?"

"Yes," she turned and started walking back out to the formal living room and down the hall to the kitchen. Ranger followed behind her silently and stopped at the large island in the kitchen as she walked around and finally turned, keeping the island between them. "I'm here on a second date with you so I'm obviously serious. And we've had this discussion already. But after only two dates should we be talking about how many kids We want to have? I know I asked the question but it wasn't in direct relation to us."

Ranger was wearing his signature smirk, "I'll get started on supper and we can talk about all of that." He circled around the island to her and pinned her against the counter with a hand on each side of her. "But I think now is probably a really good time to talk about exactly what we both are wanting and where we want this to go. If we don't have the same overall goals and expectations, what's the point of even dating?"

"Fair enough." Amy could tell by the gleam in Ranger's eyes that he was glad she was amenable to the topic of conversation.


	7. Chapter 7

**WARNING!** **This chapter contains scenes of domestic violence(obviously not involving Ranger). I want to give you fair warning in case anyone reading might possibly be upset or offended. There's no sexual assault but there are some physical injuries.**

 **And to make up for the bad stuff there's some really, really good stuff between Ranger and Amy. Another extra long chapter for you all to enjoy because I have to get busy on the work I do at home(custom knitting) with Christmas coming up.**

 **Thanks and enjoy!**

Chapter 7

"Would you like a glass of wine?" He asked just as he stepped back and went to the fridge on the other side of the kitchen.

"Wine sounds great."

As he poured out two glasses of wine he continued, "I'm going kind of simple for dinner, I hope you don't mind. I'm going to get some potatoes baking, then I'm going to throw together a light salad, grill some sirloin steaks, and I believe Ella made lemon cake."

"That all sounds wonderful, especially the lemon cake. I love lemon anything."

"How does Ella know all of your favorite things?"

"We've talked a lot over the last few years of me working in your office. I don't have a lot of friends here. Being a single mom who is trying to make up for the fact that my daughter has a deadbeat felon for a dad is a lot of work."

Ranger just nodded in agreement as he was pulling ingredients out of the fridge and digging through the one cabinet that had the box of tools and utensils he would need to prepare dinner. He hadn't actually moved in yet so he'd brought up just the bare essentials earlier in the day.

"So Ella has kept me company when I've eaten many lunches alone in the employee lounge. Or if I've ever had to stay late or work on Saturday mornings, she usually checks on me every so often. She's such a mother hen over everyone. I love it."

"She does take good care of everyone." Ranger stopped to look at Amy. "Can I ask you about your ex-husband, since you brought it up?"

Amy just stared at him for a few seconds, twisting her mouth around as she considered whether or not she wanted to talk about Troy. "I did bring him up. It's a crappy subject to talk about but we have to talk about it at some point. What don't you already know?"

"I obviously know the charges, we ran an in-depth background check on you and naturally your ex-husband when you applied for the job. But I know that the charges are only a very small part of the story, of your story."

"I suppose I'll start at the beginning." Amy took a deep breath, "Troy and I met our sophomore year in college. He was your typical frat-boy jock, and he loved to party. He had a drinking problem then, but I wasn't with him all the time or for every party so I had no idea just how much he drank at the parties. He always seemed to go easy when I was around. He got his first drunk driving charge the beginning of our junior year. He cleaned up for a few months after that, but peer pressure won him over eventually. I would get after him if I was around him when he was drinking, just to remind him to slow down. But I don't think he would drink as much when I was around. I didn't know then just how much and how often he usually drank. If I had known I would have left him then.

We got engaged at Christmas our senior year. He graduated the following May, partially because I helped him with his homework and partially because he was one of the stars of the football team. We were married in September. Troy had majored in sports medicine and ended up working as a personal trainer and physical therapist for a gym in Miami. We stayed in Miami mainly because we both got good jobs there right out of school." Amy paused to take a sip of her wine. Ranger kept working on the meal prep, seasoning the steaks and pulling out ingredients for the salad. "He tried to hide the drinking from me. We were renting a cute little house in a nice neighborhood. I had baby fever. I'd always wanted kids, I loved babies, and Troy wanted kids. So we started trying. I knew he still had a problem with alcohol, but I was in denial about how bad it was. We found out we were expecting and it was the greatest feeling in the world for me. That was in October. I was super excited and wanted to tell everyone I saw, Troy talked me into waiting until Thanksgiving to tell our families then we would tell everyone else after. The weekend before Thanksgiving he went out with a bunch of his friends for a bachelor party." Amy saw Ranger look up at her, he knew where the story was going. "He got his second DUI, which had a mandatory minimum jail stay of 4 days, he lost his drivers license for six months, they installed a breathalyzer on his car after he got a restricted license back. I was furious with him. He spent his 4 days in jail. He had to attend at least one AA meeting a week and I made him go twice a week. I told him that if he didn't I would leave him. That threat was at least enough at the time to scare him into sobriety. I thought it would work. If I could just get him to quit until our baby was born, I thought that seeing our child would change things for him." She shook her head. "I was eight months pregnant with Lexi when he could drive again. Which I was thankful for, I hadn't been looking forward to either driving while I was in labor or having to call a friend to take us to the hospital. Lexi was born on June 14th. It was a really fast labor. So fast that I never even got a chance to ask for or really even think about an epidural. It was actually an amazing experience for me. And for the first few months of Lexi's life everything seemed perfect. Troy hadn't had a drink since the weekend before Thanksgiving. But what happens in September?"

Ranger took a few seconds to think, "Football season starts."

"Bingo." Amy stood up to stretch her legs and walked over to the French doors leading to the patio. "He went to a friends house for the first Monday night football game, someone else drove him so that he could drink. I told him not to, but he came home completely wasted. I waited up for him to get home. We got into it that night." Amy wrapped her arms around herself. "What I'm about to tell you is the one thing that you never would've found in any background check." She knew he would be upset and surprised so she kept looking out the patio doors. "That was the first time that Troy ever hit me." Amy flinched when she heard Ranger drop the knife he'd been using to cut up the tomatoes and cucumbers for their salad.

"Why didn't you turn him in?" Ranger asked through clenched teeth. He didn't trust himself to go near her right at that moment.

"I rationalized and made excuses. He was too drunk to know what he was doing. It was a slap, it hadn't left a mark. But the way he'd grabbed my arm left some bruising. It was September and I worked in a climate-controlled office so I just made sure to wear sweaters and jackets. I told him then that if he touched me again I was done, I was taking Lexi and leaving. The next day he swore he wasn't going to drink again. He saw the bruises on my arm and apologized and promised me that he was done. He admitted that he'd lied after his DUI's, but that seeing me and knowing he'd hurt me physically made him see it differently. Things were great after that. He quit drinking and went to AA meetings without me having to remind him to go. It really seemed like things were better. Until he got off probation and the breathalyzer was taken out of his truck in January, one year after his sentencing. He went out with some friends on a Friday night and got absolutely trashed. He got home and I had purposely went to bed on the daybed in Lexi's room to avoid him. I wasn't asleep when he got home. I could hear him banging and crashing around. He barely made it up the stairs. I just prayed he wouldn't come looking for me when he realized I wasn't in our bed. Thankfully he didn't." Amy stayed at the doors, Ranger's house really did have some amazing views.

"The next day he went golfing. I honestly don't even think he had sobered up from the night before. As soon as he left I started packing. I wasn't going to subject my daughter to living with a drunk father. I didn't want to have to register at a hotel and deal with Troy finding out where I was staying. So I called Miguel, the head of your Miami office, and gave him the readers digest version of what was going on. There was an apartment empty for me to use as long as I needed. It took one trip in my Jeep just to get Lexi's crib and everything I would need for her to the apartment. I didn't want to leave her with anyone, I knew Troy would start checking with all of my friends and figure out where she was. And I was still breastfeeding, she was six months old but hated baby food so she still mainly just nursed, so it was easier to have her with me. I packed up as much of my clothes and whatever else that was mine and had it all loaded into my Jeep. I took a break to nurse Lexi and we ended up falling asleep together on the daybed in her room. I woke up and was just getting ready to load her up in the Jeep and go when Troy got home. I'd never seen him that drunk. He saw me with Lex in the carseat and asked where we were going. I lied of course, told him I was just going out to do some shopping and run a few errands. He stumbled toward me and I started walking backwards into the living room. He noticed that there were picture frames and other things missing around the room.

I could literally see the change come over him. He was furious. There was no way I was setting Lexi's car seat down, but carrying it made it hard to get away from him. He managed to grab my left forearm and yank me towards him. I struggled to get away from him, hoping he would be too drunk to keep his footing or to keep a hold of me. But as I'm sure you know, alcohol is a powerful drug. I put the carseat down then because I was afraid of dropping it or slamming it into something in the fight. Poor Lexi was crying already, I just wanted to get her away from him. I swung with my right and managed to land a good one to his cheek. That made him worse. I actually felt the two bones in left forearm snap with the force of him yanking me around. Thankfully the adrenaline helped me ignore it for a little bit. I lifted my right knee hard and fast into his balls. He released my arm and doubled over.

I grabbed Lex and my purse and ran out to my Jeep. Troy's truck had me blocked in but I had Lexi secured safely in her seat in the back and the doors were all locked. I called 911 from my cell. Troy came out of the house, I'm assuming he was going to try to pull me back into the house. He banged on the window once. I yelled through it that I was on the phone with the police. He stumbled to his truck in a panic and left.

About five blocks from our house he went the wrong way down a one-way street. They estimated he was probably going about 55 miles an hour when he ran head on into a woman going about 40. She was killed instantly. Troy somehow managed to survive. After spending a month in the hospital getting his broken legs put back together with rods and screws and starting rehab he was taken to jail.

The rest is in my background check, or I've already told you. Mostly anyways."

Ranger finally walked around the island and approached her. He stopped right behind her and gently put his hands on her upper arms. "I am so glad that you moved up here. First because it got you and Lexi away from a really bad situation." Amy turned and put her arms around Ranger's neck, he settled his hands on her waist. "Second because it brought you to me. Well, maybe that's first." He smiled as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. "And third, because with me around there's no way in hell that asshole of an ex is ever going to get near you again." He kissed her again and stood there for a few minutes just holding her before he went back to the island.

"Sorry, my past isn't really uplifting or positive date conversation. Man, I am great at ruining the mood with bad conversation."

"Hey, I asked." Ranger put the bowl of salad back in the fridge. "Grab your glass of wine, we'll move out to the patio. I need to start up the grill and I'll start the fire place out there."

"Sounds good to me." Amy grabbed her wine and her phone and headed out to the patio. She found a very comfortable couch and sat down. The views from this house were amazing. There didn't seem to be a bad place to sit and look out on the countryside.

A few minutes later Ranger came out, he started the fire place and then the grill before joining her on the couch. "So what do you think of the house?"

"I think it's amazing. It's huge. Like way too big for you, me, Lexi, and any possible future kids we might have. But it's beautiful." She took a small sip of her wine.

"Thank You. It is big. But I have extended family. You have extended family. I want there to be room for everyone to visit us. I'm finding that I want to visit with my family more these days."

"That's really nice." She smiled and felt a tingle shoot through her body when he put his hand on her leg. He wasn't even trying to be seductive and yet he was still managing to seduce her. "So how many acres do you own here?"

"About forty." He pointed off to the west, "There's a little creek that runs through the west side of my lot. But otherwise it's mainly just trees."

"And it's far away from civilization." She teased.

"Yes there's that too." He squeezed her thigh. "I do like seclusion. I've always preferred to keep my private life, private. But I'll admit that this is about as far from modern conveniences as I want to be."

"You definitely picked a good place and a very beautiful piece of land."

"The grill should be ready now." He got up and put the steaks on the grill then rejoined her on the couch.

"So, kids." He turned sideways on the couch so he could face her, putting a hand on her leg again. "I really am open to whatever."

"Lexi has been on the baby bandwagon lately. Her best friend Emma has a 6 month old little brother so she's talked about it quite a bit. However she's requested a little sister. I told her it doesn't quite work that way." Ranger smiled at her as he lazily rubbed her thigh. "But I definitely wouldn't mind having one or two more kids."

Ranger nodded. "I would really like to meet Lexi. I mean I've met her a couple of times before. But I would like to do something with the two of you. I know we just started dating, but I want you to be comfortable bringing her out here with you. Or for me to be at your house now and then."

Amy nodded, "We'll have to figure something out, maybe for next weekend. I want to talk to her first and let her know that I'm seeing someone."

"Understandable." Ranger took a drink of his wine, "So, besides work and Lexi, do you have any other hobbies or anything?"

Amy chuckled, "Working full time and being a single mom doesn't leave much time for anything else, that's why I've dated so much." She teased. "You'll laugh at me, but I like to knit."

Ranger didn't laugh, but it was kind of surprising. "As in you knit sweaters and afghans?"

Amy nodded. "Well I've never knit an afghan, a couple of baby blankets but those take forever. The scarves and cowls I usually wear around the office were knit by me. The black stocking hats that the guys wear were knit by me."

Ranger paused with his wine glass halfway to his mouth. "The black knit stocking hats that Ella had the Rangeman logo embroidered onto? You knit all of those?"

Amy nodded. "Hats are easy. It took me about two months to get all of those done last fall."

"Two months is a long time."

"Not really for knitting, or at least not to knit that many hats. I did like thirty. I've done about a dozen more since then for new hires and to have extras on hand."

"That's my favorite hat to wear in the winter."

Amy smiled, "I'd noticed."

Ranger got up to flip the steaks.

"What about you? Any hobbies or bad habits I need to know about?" Amy teased.

"I'm pretty sure you probably know all of my hobbies and habits, both good and bad. I'm not really all that different at home than I am at work. I'm usually pretty organized and like things to be clean and tidy. I eat really healthy. Our dinner Tuesday night was the worst meal I've eaten in over a month. Tonight's dinner comes in second. I work out, a lot. It's a stress reliever, it's my fall back if I'm bored. I have a TV in my apartment but it rarely ever gets watched." He rejoined her on the couch.

"Well we've got a problem there. I can't live without my DVR. I mean I rarely get time to watch much TV during the week. But the weekends, especially Sundays, are when I relax and watch the shows I missed during the week and do some knitting."

"Okay. On Sunday's you can knit and watch TV, I'll just make use of the gym and do some training." Ranger took a drink of his wine and moved on. "My contractor will be here about nine tomorrow morning. I have paint chips taped to the walls in most of the rooms, but like I said earlier I want your input. We don't have to decide on the paint immediately since they have the theater room in the basement to do, the bedroom in the guest apartment needs to be completely gutted, there's mold on the walls in that room for some reason. Another thing for the contractor to figure out. I'm debating on opening up one of the bedrooms upstairs and making it a toy room or entertainment area for the kids. Another thing for us to talk about."

"Oh so just small decisions, no pressure or anything." Amy teased as she shrugged her shoulder then took a drink of her wine.

"Do you disagree with any of the changes?"

"Well, I suppose not. I mean I haven't seen the basement yet but a theater room sounds nice. You would have a lot more knowledge and opinion on that than I would. An entertainment room upstairs wouldn't be bad. What room would you want to give up for that?"

"I was thinking either the second master or the bedroom across from it."

"Both of those are right at the top of the stairs by the family room, easier to yell up and get people's attention that way."

"True." He nodded in agreement.

"Well the steaks should be done. Why don't you take our glasses back in to the kitchen, I'll get our steaks and turn off the grill."

Back in the kitchen Amy left their wine glasses on the counter and grabbed the salad and some dressing out of the fridge. She put oven mitts on and grabbed the baked potatoes out of the oven. Ranger walked in just as she was setting the baking stone with the baked potatoes on the counter.

"You didn't need to do that. I'm supposed to be making you dinner." He said as he set the plate on the counter next to the potatoes.

"I want to help. I have proven yet again that I suck at making good conversation on dates. So I want to do something to help." Amy turned to Ranger who was standing right next to her. "Now what? Can I set the table or something?"

Ranger smiled at the confidence and determination that you could clearly see on Amy's face, and especially in her fierce blue eyes. "Sure. There's a box in the lower cabinet right next to the fridge that has placemats, plates, and silverware. I obviously don't have a dining table here yet, so just set the island."

While Amy set their places at the island, Ranger took the plate with the steaks and the bowl of salad to the other side of the island. "Would you like more wine?"

"Yeah, that would be great." Amy sat while Ranger refilled both of their glasses.

They both sat and took their first few bites of food in silence. After taking a couple of bites of everything Amy took a sip of her wine then looked over at Ranger sitting next to her. "This is all delicious. Thank You for the first home cooked meal, that I haven't had to cook for myself, in a very long time."

One corner of Ranger's mouth turned up and he nodded. "I'm glad that you like it. Although I have to admit that none of it was that hard."

Amy just smiled and continued eating.

"So," Ranger said between bites. "I was hoping I could convince you to have lunch with me on Monday. I know it's your day off," he said anticipating her first possible objection, "I was hoping I could talk you and Lexi into meeting me for lunch somewhere. Or," he stopped for a moment while he considered. "Maybe Lexi would feel more comfortable meeting me for the first time at your house. I can bring you lunch from your favorite place, or her favorite place, and the three of us can hang out for a little while."

Amy couldn't believe how Ranger was constantly surprising her at every turn. She also couldn't stop smiling at him, "I think that would be great, and I'm sure Lex would love it. But I can promise you that food from her favorite place would definitely qualify as the worst meal you've eaten, probably in a year."

Ranger's face went blank, "It's not McDonald's is it?"

"Oh good God no, we don't eat there." Amy couldn't stop the sour look from forming on her face. "But she does love cheap Chinese. However, if that's not your thing either, she isn't really that picky about food generally."

"I can handle cheap Chinese. They usually have decent pot stickers and some seasoned vegetables and sometimes beef or chicken that aren't doused in gallons of salty sauce."

"Lexi would be offended, she loves the sauce." Amy teased.

Ranger smiled, "I'll pick up food and bring it over about noon then."

"That'll be perfect."

Ranger watched Amy take the last bite of her steak and set her utensils down. "So are you ready for dessert?"

"I don't think I have room for dessert right now." Amy couldn't exactly gracefully slide her chair back to signal she wanted to get up since the stools were bar height, she was wearing four-inch stiletto heels, and a full knee-length skirt that she loved and looked fabulous in but it didn't exactly lend to sneaky seductions. So she did what she could do. She reached her right hand over and touched Ranger's thigh, "I need to freshen up, meet me in the master in ten minutes?"

Ranger's eyes instantly darkened, "I'll clean up in here first."

Amy nodded at him then as carefully and gracefully as she could manage she slid down off the stool and walked down the hallway to the master bedroom. Once she was in the master bathroom she quickly used the facilities, washed her hands, and was getting ready to go back out to the bedroom when she noticed the master closet. She decided she had a minute to be nosy and walked in. Some of Ranger's clothes were already hanging, but this closet was massive. They could easily fit all of Ranger's clothes, all of Amy's clothes, and still have about half of the space leftover. She made a quick last minute decision and quickly stripped out of her heels, skirt, sweater, and shirt then quickly pulled on one of Ranger's black Rangeman tees.

Amy was just about to climb onto the bed when she heard the bedroom doors close behind her. She turned around and judging by the gleam in Ranger's eyes he was very happy to see her in his shirt. He slowly made his way across the room to her and stopped just a few inches in front of her.

"I've got to say, your outfit tonight was stunning. But I think I'm partial to seeing you in my shirt." He gave her a grin as he toed off his shoes and unfastened his belt.

Amy sucked in a breath when Ranger stopped undressing himself with just his pants undone and started pulling his shirt up her body.

"I've been dying to do this since your first day in Trenton." Amy's eyes widened and her pupils dilated as she looked up into his eyes. "Yeah sweetheart, that long." He answered, reading the surprise and question in her eyes perfectly.

Amy lifted her arms as Ranger pulls the shirt all the way up and over her head. "Your turn." She says as she reaches out and starts unbuttoning his shirt. After making quick work of the buttons she pushes the shirt off his shoulders and it drops to the floor. She reaches for his pants and starts pushing them down, loving the way his tight boxer briefs hide absolutely nothing. He steps out of his pants and pushes her backwards a couple steps until her thighs touch the edge of the bed.

Ranger grabs her face and pulls her mouth to his as she throws her arms around his neck and crushes her chest to his. The kiss is brutal, she knows her mouth is going to be bruised from his kisses but she doesn't care. He could give her hickey's all over her body and she wouldn't care. His touch feels too good. Being pressed up against his bare chest is both soothing and setting her blood on fire.

He quickly reaches behind her and unhooks her bra, pulling the straps down her arms releasing her soft and supple curves. He groans, then kisses all around her nipple before finally sucking the turgid tip into his mouth. Amy arched her back and moaned as the sharp tugging was linked directly to her heat. She gasped as he ran a hand over her underwear lightly massaging her.

"Off" she managed to whisper breathlessly. Ranger pulled her underwear down her legs, kissing his way down her stomach and to the juncture of her thighs as he did. His tongue flicked over her sensitive flesh and she couldn't stop the loud moan at the sudden sharp sensations going through her. "Oh my God," she managed. "Please."

He entered her wet flesh with first one finger then two, and in less than two minutes she was screaming her release. Ranger stood and unceremoniously dropped his boxer briefs before he joined her on the bed, pushing her legs apart with his knees. "You look so beautiful when you come."

Her heart raced and her legs were tingling, "Come here." She pulled him down and kissed him as he slowly entered her. She gasped as he filled her completely in one quick thrust. He didn't pause or stop, this wasn't going to be slow. Ranger was too desperate for her. Amy's little moans and gasps were only fueling his absolute need to take her hard and fast.

A couple minutes later Amy is screaming out his name as her orgasm completely debilitates her. Ranger thrusts hard a few more times before burying himself to the hilt and pumping his release into her. He collapses over her holding himself up on his elbows to keep most of his weight off of her. They stay that way for a minute, both trying to catch their breath, before Ranger finally pulls out of her and lays on his side next to her.

Amy suddenly sits up, "Oh shit." She gives Ranger a panicked look.

Ranger has his head propped up in his hand. "What?"

"You didn't use a condom."

Ranger slowly sits up next to her. He runs a hand through his hair, "I've never forgotten before, I'm sorry. We hadn't even talked about it." He puts his other hand on Amy's shoulder. "Are you on the pill or anything?"

"I wish I could say that I was." She looked into Ranger's eyes and was surprised that he didn't look any different than normal. "I haven't had any kind of relationship in years, I haven't had any reason to be on anything. You don't look freaked out. Why am I the only one panicking?"

"It's kind of scary," Ranger admitted. "But it's kind of too late now isn't it?"

Amy tried to slow her breathing back down to normal. "What if…"

"Don't," Ranger interrupted her. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. We'll just use condoms from now on."

Amy nodded, "I'm going to uh," she stood up and pointed to the bathroom as she grabbed his t-shirt she'd worn earlier. He nodded at her and she turned toward the bathroom as she pulled the shirt over her head. Closing the door behind her she leaned back against it for a few seconds to gather her thoughts. She finally stood upright and went to the sink. She turned on the cold water and splashed some on her face then blotted it off with one of the super soft teal hand towels sitting on the counter.

A light knock at the door brought her head up quickly. "Can I come in?" Ranger called through the door.

"Yes," Amy called out as she absent mindedly started twisting the towel in her hands. She turned and leaned back against the counter as Ranger walked in, keeping her eyes focused on the slate grey faux wood tiles.

He walked right to her and leaned one hip against the counter as he faced her. Slowly reaching up, he started slowly rubbing her back. "You're freaking out aren't you?"

All she could do was nod.

He put his other arm around her and pulled her to him. "What can I do?"

"Nothing." She said quietly. "I'm just trying to think and figure out if we really need to worry or not."

"I don't know that I ever thought I'd ask this, but when did you finish your last period?"

Amy just barely lifted one corner of her mouth, she knew he didn't really want to know the answer but he cared enough to try to help her figure it out. After some quick mental math she answered, "Eleven days ago." She took a deep slow breath, "but I don't know enough about my cycle to know if we should be okay or not."

"Well, then I hope the next two weeks go by quickly." He kissed the top of her head and gave her a quick squeeze. "Do you want me to take you home?"

"No," she answered quickly. "I'm a little freaked, but it'll pass. Like you said, it's too late now."

He nodded. "Let's go have some cake."

Amy couldn't hold back the laugh that bubbled up in her chest. "Cake sounds nice."

Ranger stepped into the closet and pulled on a pair of black and grey plaid pajama pants.

"Do you want to borrow some pants?"

"I'm good."

They walked down the hallway to the kitchen, Ranger got two small plates and two forks out of the box in the cabinet while Amy found a knife and cut a couple of small pieces from the round cake. They sat at the island again, Amy smiled and hummed as she took her first bite. "Ella's lemon cake is my favorite. I'm glad she doesn't make it often. Or I'd have to spend even more time in the gym."

Ranger gently elbowed her, "I've already told you, but I'll tell you again. You look fabulous. Now having actually seen you naked I can officially verify that you have no reason to hide that amazing body."

Amy smiled at him. "You do realize that I'm basically naked in your kitchen, you don't have to keep saying things like that to get in my pants." She winked.

He growled in response then quickly slid down off his stool and unceremoniously lifted Amy off of hers, carrying her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry back to the bedroom. They never made it back out to the kitchen to finish their cake.


	8. Chapter 8

**UPDATED! Let's try this again. I know for a fact all of that crap was not there when I first uploaded the chapter this morning. Fingers crossed it goes better this time.**

 **Thank You, again, everyone! Things are calming down a bit on the farm. And so far I have all of my custom-knit projects done. So I will be writing like crazy while I have the time. I'm hoping I can get one chapter out a week for the next few weeks at least. I can't make any promises on that schedule, but I've been writing like crazy lately so I'll try. But I can promise that this story won't go unfinished, I have to finish what I write and give myself a sense of closure or finality with my characters.**

Chapter 8

Ranger's alarm woke him up at seven-thirty Saturday morning. He reached over and quickly turned it off to keep from waking up Amy, who was snuggled right into his side with one leg thrown over his, an arm wrapped tightly around his stomach and her head on his chest. Laying in bed as he listened to the slow even breathing from Amy, he couldn't remember the last time he'd slept until seven-thirty. Ranger's typical wake up time was between five forty-five and six am, without an alarm. He just wished they didn't need to get up to go through the house with the contractor.

There was no way for Ranger to get out of bed without waking Amy. So he slowly started rubbing her back until she finally moved and stretched against him.

"Hey there sweetheart, good morning." Ranger lightly kissed the side of her head.

"Mmmmmm," Amy said as she smiled before slowly opening her eyes. "Morning. What time is it?"

"Seven-thirty."

"Oh my God, I haven't slept this late in so long. Probably since college to be honest."

"I couldn't even guess at how long it's been since I've slept this late." Ranger pulled her so that she was laying across his chest. "Do you need to shower?"

"Probably, I haven't seen my hair yet. But considering our, uh, workout, last night" she blushed a little as he smiled at her, "I should probably wash my hair. But I didn't bring any extra clothes for today."

"I have some extra clothes here. You should be able to make a pair of my cotton pajama pants work, they have a drawstring. And we already know you look great in my shirts." With one hand on the back of Amy's head and the other cupping her naked butt, Ranger pulled her head down to his, "In bed or in the shower?" Amy got a breath away from kissing Ranger before quickly rolling off of him and making a mad dash for the shower. Ranger was right on her heels.

They managed to finally stop taking advantage of each other and make it out to the kitchen by eight-thirty. Amy stole a pair of Ranger's boxer briefs and thankfully his drawstring grey cotton pajama pants worked out pretty well with his Rangeman t-shirt. She had decided while she was in the shower that she wasn't going to panic over their lapse the night before. They were adults. If she ended up getting pregnant, it must be meant to happen that way. Stressing about it wouldn't help or make a difference. And it wasn't like she was getting any younger.

Ranger was standing at the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee when she walked in. "So, for breakfast we can have yogurt with or without granola, I've got some fresh fruit-bananas, blueberries, and strawberries, and I think I have a loaf of bread although I'm not sure there's a toaster here yet."

"Do you have orange juice?"

Ranger pulled open the very large professional grade full size fridge, "I do have orange juice."

"Perfect. I don't need a toaster, I can use the broiler on the oven. So I'm going to have some toast, some fruit, and orange juice." Amy set the broil setting on the oven and started pulling out the fruit to wash and cut it up.

"Do you mind making some for me? I'm going to step outside to make a few phone calls. Oh and Tank and Hal should be here in about ten or fifteen minutes, they're going to be finishing up some bugs with the security system here."

"Sure thing. I'll be here in the kitchen. "

"Thank You," he walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist. "The calls shouldn't take more than ten minutes." He nuzzled into her neck, loving the smell of his soap and shampoo on her. "About last night."

"I'm not stressing. If I am pregnant, then it was meant to be. I believe that all things happen for a reason just when they're supposed to. So I'm good with it, either way."

"Good." He kissed her exposed neck. "If you are, if WE are pregnant, it'll be a good thing."

"Okay," She nodded, "butter on your toast?"

"Yes, please."

"Do you have any peanut butter?"

"That one I'm pretty sure is a No. But feel free to check." He walked over to the door to the breezeway and closed it behind him.

Amy watched him walk away, completely unashamedly checking him out. She couldn't believe she had just spend half the night, and most of her morning, having sex with this man. She was one lucky woman.

Fifteen minutes later Ranger was sitting next to her at the bar, again. They had just started eating their breakfast when the security panel by the patio doors and the breezeway door started beeping. Amy looked up instantly at the noise.

"That faint beeping just means someone is using another key pad. If someone types in the wrong number the keypad flashes red. You get two tries. If you type it in wrong the second time the whole house goes on lockdown, a silent alarm is set off and Rangeman dispatches whoever is on-call. Since my house isn't technically in Trenton, the Princeton police department gets paged as well."

"Good to know." Amy nodded as she scarfed down her second piece of toast having already eaten half of her small bowl of strawberry, blueberry, and banana.

She was just about to say something else when she heard Tank's rumbling voice down the hall, accompanied by the quieter voice of Hal.

They approached the kitchen with their eyes shielded. "I hope you guys are at least decent." Tank said as he took the two steps down into the sunken kitchen and family room area.

"Ha Ha guys," Amy chuckled as Ranger squeezed her leg under the counter. "We're dressed."

Tank and Hal went straight to the fridge.

"Flynn was happy to see me this morning," Tank said as he walked by Amy, patting her on the shoulder on his way. "I fed him, we played in the backyard for a little bit, then I locked him back in his kennel."

"Thank You so much for doing that Tank."

"Not a problem." He winked at her before he opened the fridge to grab a bottle of water. Hal took a water and stole a banana off the counter.

"So boss, which panel did you say was acting hinky yesterday?" Hal was getting right down to business.

"The panel in the office keeps giving an error message saying it isn't connected to the network. And the camera on the west corner of the north garage isn't working."

"Those should both be easy to fix," Hal said between bites of his banana.

A loud but short ringing sound came from the security panel. Ranger jumped up and went to the panel at the breezeway door. He pushed a button before saying "Hello."

"Yeah Hi, Bobby Walker, your contractor."

"Just pull right up to the courtyard between the two garages on the north side of the house."

"Will do."

Ranger pushed another button to open the gates then turned back to see Tank, Hal, and Amy chatting.

"Tank, did you bring up the paperwork?"

"Yes, it's in the folder on the counter."

Amy shot a questioning look at Ranger, "Are you working?"

"No," he answered as he grabbed the folder and started looking through the contents. "It's the fixtures, furniture, and electronics I want for the theater room downstairs."

"Oh, speaking of house changes. I was thinking, the formal living room seems a little dark. All of the woodwork in that room is really dark, the walls are burgundy, which makes the room seem small and well, really dark. How would you feel about changing the stain color on the woodwork and maybe doing a light sandy beige or light grey for the walls?" Amy was taking the initiative since he'd said she could help pick the colors and décor.

"That room could use some brightening." Ranger admitted. "We'll have to ask Bobby if that woodwork is worth stripping and re-staining or if we should just replace it. The flooring is dark in there too. Do you want to do a lighter wood for the floor? Or we could tile it. I'm guessing Bobby will have some good recommendations and hopefully some sample books to look through."

"I think we'll have to see what we end up doing with the trim and then decide on the floor."

A knocking on the breezeway door pulled Tank away from watching the two talk about the house. He'd never seen Ranger be so, domestic. The contractor was standing at the door along with two other guys. Tank opened the door and the contractor introduced Gil who would be the site manager for the project and Jake the architect.

Ranger stood, pulling Amy along with him and introduced her as his girlfriend, which made her smile. They spent the morning going through the house room by room and discussing all of the changes and ideas. All three guys agreed that it would be better to strip and stain the woodwork in the formal living room, rather than tearing it all out.

At a quarter after eleven they were in the storage room that would be transformed into the theater, Amy pulled Ranger off to the corner of the room to talk. "I need to pick Lexi up at her friend's house in about an hour or so, but I need to go home to get my Jeep."

"Oh yeah, sorry, I kind of lost track of time." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before going back to Bobby, Gil, Jake, and Tank. Hal was replacing the camera and wiring on the north garage. "Hey guys, I've got to take Amy back to Trenton. Tank, can you finish up?"

"Well actually," Bobby the contractor spoke up, "I think we've got everything we need, at least for now. We can draw up the new plans and all of the proposed changes and then I'll email them to you when they're done and ready for your approval. My assistant will call you to make sure you get them and to set up an appointment to finalize everything and get the contract done and signed."

Ranger nodded. "Good. I'll walk you guys out then."

Thirty minutes later Ranger was walking Amy to her front door. "I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep in my new house without you, it just won't be the same."

Amy smiled and put her arms around his waist. "I think I'm going to have some problems sleeping without you too."

Ranger gave a barely audible growl, "I hope the work on the house doesn't take long, I'd like to have it done by Christmas. And I'd like for you to and Lexi to move out there with me."

Amy looked up at him in surprise, "While I have no doubt in your abilities to win Lexi over on Monday, don't you think that's moving a little fast?"

"If our forgetfulness last night results in you being pregnant, I'm going to insist on you guys moving in with me." He had to try really hard not to come off as arrogant.

"Well, if I am then I probably wouldn't object to moving into your mansion with you."

"I don't want you to spend the next two weeks worrying and freaking out. If your pregnant, we'll make a plan. And if your not, then I might have to try to talk you into staying off birth control."

Amy was pretty sure her eyes were about to pop out of her head.

"We talked about kids last night. I want more, you want more, Lexi wants a little sister. Plus your helping me renovate and pick the décor for the new house. I know that my feelings for you aren't going to change. But I won't push you. If you need some time, I can wait."

"You just keep surprising me at every turn." She smiled at him then set about digging out her keys and unlocking the front door. "We'll have the birth control discussion in a couple of weeks." She walked straight back to Flynn's kennel, unlocking the dog door on her way, to let him out. "Moving in with you would be a big change for us, but especially for Lexi. She's never lived with anyone but me, she wasn't old enough to remember her dad. She would have to change schools. Living in Princeton would take her away from her friends. I would actually have to commute to work, something I don't really do now."

"I'll give you that." He conceded. "You could probably arrange it for her to finish out this school year here. And maybe look into her continuing school there since you'd already be driving into Trenton anyways."

"I'll have to look into the Princeton school system. There's a lot to look into and quite a few decisions to make before we uproot our lives here." She could see the determination in Ranger's eyes, but underneath that was worry. "I'm not saying No. I meant what I said earlier, I would love to move into your mansion with you. It's just going to require some thought and consideration."

"I understand." Ranger pulled her into his arms. "Are you sure I can't see you until Monday?"

She nodded. "And I hate to push you out but I need to go upstairs and change before I go pick up Lexi."

"Can I help?"

Amy swatted at him then backed a few steps away from him. "I don't need THAT kind of help. Go. I'll talk to you later today I'm sure."

"Count on it." He swooped in and gave her another kiss before leaving her.

Amy found herself checking out his ass as he walked away for the second time that day. And he still looked delicious.

Amy and Lexi spent their Saturday running errands. After making them pan-seared salmon with steamed veggies and microwave risotto for dinner, they sat down to watch a movie before bed. As expected, Ranger sent her texts throughout the day and called her after Lexi had gone to bed at 9. They talked for nearly an hour, which surprised her given how much talking they'd already done that day and the night before. But the good thing was they seemed to be able to communicate well.

Sunday was their lazy day. Lexi begged to have her friend Millie come over to play for the afternoon. Amy agreed mainly because she lived two blocks over so her mom walked her to their house. Amy and Lexi would walk her back before supper. While the girls played she worked on laundry and wrote up their menu for the week. They would go grocery shopping Monday afternoon. After Lexi went to bed at eight-thirty, Amy had another nearly hour-long conversation with Ranger. He'd turned into a chatty Cathy. But she liked it.


	9. Chapter 9

**I sincerely hope that this chapter doesn't have all of the technical issues that the last one did. I apologize for that. I reloaded Chapter 8, so hopefully you can actually read it now. If you still can't, or if this chapter does the same thing please send me a message. Sorry for the technical problems!**

 **I have been on writing rampage lately, and I've gotten to the point with this story that I just can't stop! (Definitely a good 'problem' to have!) I've definitely hit my stride and I am loving all of the amazing responses from everyone. Thanks for continuing to read my story, and keep commenting!**

Chapter 9

Monday rolled around and Amy got up at six to do an hour of circuits in her basement gym. Planks, free weights, squats, Russian twists, burpees, you name the torturous exercise or free weight lift and it was probably part of her circuit. She enjoyed being able to take a slow shower on a weekday morning, so she massaged conditioner into her hair and let it sit while she shaved her legs. After she'd rinsed and dried off she got out her thick shea butter lotion and massaged it into her legs and arms. To go with her plans of doing nothing on her days off she put on a pair of black Capri leggings with a loose-fitting t-shirt that exposed one shoulder.

Having done all of her laundry the day before, she grabbed her knitting and her iPad to do some reading and headed downstairs. After leaving her things next to her favorite overstuffed chair in the living room she went to the kitchen to get herself some breakfast. Just as she was putting some cut up fresh fruit in a small bowl of vanilla yogurt, Lexi finally had woken up and was walking into the kitchen.

"Hey there pretty girl, are you ready for a fun day of watching movies and being bums?" Amy asked.

Lexi giggled as she sat down at the bar on the kitchen island. "Can I pick the first movie?!"

"Absolutely!" Amy smiled as Lexi cheered. "But first, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Can I have peanut butter toast, please?"

"Sure thing." Amy dropped a couple of pieces of bread in the toaster then grabbed the peanut butter out of the pantry. "What else do you want to do today?"

"Do you think we could go out to eat for lunch?"

"What if," Amy set a plate and butter knife on the counter next to the toaster then turned to face Lexi. "a friend of mom's brings lunch to us?"

Lexi looked a little confused at first before answering. "That would be okay. What friend is it?"

This was the part Amy hadn't been looking forward to. Like any other 6-year old, Lexi was really good at asking questions. She always seemed to know exactly what questions Amy was hoping she wouldn't ask, and that Amy really didn't want to have to answer.

"Do you remember my boss, Ranger?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he's going to bring us lunch today. And he's going to stay and eat with us. Is that okay?"

"Sure." She didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that a guy was coming over, when Amy had never had a guy over before.

The toaster had just finished, Amy was carefully transferring the hot toast to the plate when Lexi spoke again a minute later.

"So is Ranger like you boyfriend or something?"

How did she do that? Talk about being a mini me. Not only did Lexi look exactly like her, but she also had Amy's innate ability to get right down to the heart of things.

"Well baby, we've gone on a couple of dates and we really like each other. But I want you to spend some time with him before we take that step."

Lexi didn't seem like she was surprised or bothered at all, "Okay. He's always seemed nice the other times I've seen him. What's he bringing for lunch?"

"He said he wanted to surprise you." At Lexi's slightly furrowed brow and look of uncertainty Amy quickly added, "I told him what you like and some of your favorites. So we'll just have to see what he bring us."

"Okay, that sounds good."

They spent the morning in a Disney princess haze. First they watched Tangled, Lexi sang the songs as she danced around the living room. They were halfway through Aladdin when Ranger started texting Amy at about ten.

R: I've called ahead to pick up our food at 11:30, I should be there a little before noon.

A: Sounds great. Lexi is looking forward to lunch, she wanted to go out for lunch today anyways before I told her you were coming.

Ranger's response was immediate. Thanks to their iPhones they could see when the text had been read and if they were responding.

R: What did she say?

A: She doesn't seem to mind at all. She asked if you were my boyfriend. I told her we hadn't figured that out yet.

R: Ouch!

A: I also told her that I wanted the two of you to spend some time together before we made that official.

R: That's a little better.

A: Would it be totally against your healthy eating mantra to ask you to pick me up a soda on your way?

R: Yes.

A: Your mean.

A: I suppose I don't need the calories anyways.

R: It's bad for the baby.

A: Stop that!

R: What kind do you normally drink?

A: Don't worry about it. I really shouldn't.

R: Ok. I'll call you when I'm on my way with the food.

A: Sounds good.

R: I missed you the last two nights.

A: You're in a boring meeting aren't you?

R: Yes. Tank is trying to talk me into trading-in a few of the Rangeman fleet vehicles. Lester is boring me with the financials.

A: Shouldn't you be paying attention to that?

R: Tank already knows I'll say yes.

A: So why the meeting?

R: They're trying to get personal details about us and our date.

A: Oh, well why don't you just tell them I'm already pregnant? That'll stun them into silence for at least thirty seconds.

R: WHAT?! YOU keep telling me to stop talking about that and now you bring it up?!

A: Are you in high school? Of course I was kidding. Tell them whatever you want. Doesn't Tank already know pretty much everything anyways? He did see us at the house together. And I was wearing your clothes. That's not really that hard to figure out, is it?

R: Well, they want to know if your boobs are as nice as they seem. How good the sex was-which it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G in case you were wondering. And of course they want to know when your moving in with me.

A: Can I work from home tomorrow?

R: Why?

A: To avoid getting the third degree from Tank and Lester…and probably every other Rangeman employee. Including Ella. I know that she knows already.

R: Of course she knows. I stayed at the house all weekend. She gave me 'the look' when I got home last night. I didn't even say anything, but she told me I have to be on my best behavior with you or she's firing me.

A: Well at least I have her on my side.

R: And probably at least half of the other guys in the office.

A: Only half?

R: Some know I have really damning information on them, so they'll pick me out of fear.

A: GET BACK TO YOUR MEETING!

R: Tank already left. Now I'm all alone in my office and I'm bored. Can I come over now?

A: I'll see you around noon.

R: Fine. I'll see you later.

A: :)

Amy couldn't help but smile a ridiculously huge ear-to-ear grin. For the first time, she actually started to feel okay with the possibility of getting pregnant on her second date with her boss. After fantasizing for a few minutes about how gorgeous a cute little dark-haired boy would look running around the huge house in Princeton, she went back to her knitting.

Lexi had just started the movie The book of Life when Amy's phone signaled a new e-mail. She opened the email app and was immediately thrown by the sender. It was a government address from Florida. There was only one reason she would be getting an email from a government address in Florida. What was Troy up to? Judging by the address it was from someone at the prison where Troy was being held.

Before she could even start reading the email her phone started to ring in her hand. The caller ID said David Findlay. Her heart started to race and she felt her palms instantly start to sweat. What were the odds that she would get an email from someone who works for the Florida Department of Corrections and a phone call from her lawyer at pretty much the exact same time?

She quickly left the room and headed upstairs to avoid Lexi hearing anything. "Hello." She could feel her heart trying to beat out of her chest as she literally locked herself in her room.

"Hi Amy, It's David Findlay."

"What's going on David? I just got an email from someone who works at the prison where Troy's at?" Amy was pacing back and forth across her room.

"What did it say?"

"I don't know, I was just about to read it when you called."

"Troy finally managed to get one of his appeals to be taken seriously."

"What does that mean?"

"He could possibly be released within the next year to eighteen months if he wins this appeal. He's claiming that he was sentenced too harshly. He's been a model prisoner and has been attending AA meetings and mentoring other new prisoners. On paper he looks like he's completely changed."

Amy dropped down onto her chaise lounge like a rock. "He can't get out. I don't know what I would do if he was out. He'll want to see Lexi. But I can't, I just can't." Amy couldn't find the words or even form a full sentence. Then she started to hyperventilate.

"Slow down." David tried to calm her down and reassure her. "Amy just breath. Sit down and put your head between your knees."

"I, I, but…" Amy kept breathing but she could have sworn she was having a heart attack, or at least she was sure that what she was feeling was pretty close to a heart attack.

"He found a loop hole, Amy. But it's not a sure thing." David was talking fast now, trying to get Amy to stop having a panic attack.

"What?" Amy wasn't sure if she was talking normally or screaming the way her heart was pounding in her ears.

"We knew he was going to go away for a while with the alcohol charges so we dropped the domestic. There's a new parole program that he technically qualifies for because his charges were alcohol-related but didn't involve any aggravated assault or domestic abuse charges."

"What about the vehicular manslaughter charge?!"

"That charge was a result of the alcohol and wasn't any kind of aggravated assault. I know it's ridiculous, like I said, he found a loop hole. But, there's a catch, which will work against him. Well, technically two. The email from his counselor, which you haven't read yet, states that he could be up for parole in twelve to eighteen months so he is seeking to re-establish his parental rights to Lexi to get visitation."

"NO!" Amy knew she screamed that. Troy getting his rights back would be her worst nightmare.

"But since he was never actually convicted on the domestic abuse charges, we can file and charge him now. That should throw a wrench in him trying to get his parental rights back."

"Okay, do it."

"But the statute of limitations is literally weeks away from running out. So I'm going to have to get the paperwork done and submitted soon. Which I can do, and I will get it done and get copies to you as soon as I do. But you'll probably have to come back and testify. However, I can almost guarantee he'll be convicted of the domestic charge, so that will disqualify him for the early parole."

"I'm not going to lie David, you could have started with that part so I wouldn't have had a panic attack!" Amy took a deep breath in and blew it out her mouth as she worked on calming her heart rate back down.

"Well, I will warn you that I think there's a chance he could get visitation rights, even while he's still in prison."

"What?" Amy was struggling to find her words again. "How? The reason I won on that issue was because he'd be in prison for so long and taking an infant, toddler, small child, to visit her father in prison didn't seem to be in her best interest."

"But she's older now and can better understand his situation. I don't think he'll get his rights back until he's out of prison, but he could end up getting some visitation."

"Oh my God. This is not what I was wanting to hear today."

"I know, I'm sorry. As soon as I get off the phone with you I'm drawing up and filing the domestic assault charges."

"Okay. And how long before he's served with those?"

"Probably a few days."

Amy blew out a breath. "When will I have to go to court?"

"I don't have an answer or even a guess to that. All of the evidence and your written statement from that day will have to be pulled back out and re-examined. It'll take some time."

"Will I have to go to Florida for that?"

"If it goes to trial, yes. You'll have to be deposed, but we can arrange for that to happen in Trenton."

Amy nodded, forgetting for a second he couldn't see her. "Okay. Let me know when it's all done. Call me. I keep my cell on me all day at work."

"I will call you the second it's all done, notarized, and submitted." David promised.

"Thank You."

"Your welcome Amy, I'll be in touch."

Amy flopped back on her chaise, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths in through her nose and blowing slowly out of her mouth. Why would this happen now, when she had finally decided to start dating and think about herself for once. A knock on her bedroom door reminded her she'd locked it.

"Mommy." Lexi's little voice sounded on the other side.

"I'm coming sweetie." Amy slowly got up and schooled her face to seem calm before she opened the door. "What's up…Oh Ranger, Hi."

Ranger tilted his head ever so slightly to one side as he took in her obviously upset and stressed demeanor. "I came over early for lunch because I didn't have any more meetings this morning."

Amy looked down at her watch, it was a little after eleven. "Oh okay, great!" Amy looked to Lexi who was busy checking Ranger out.

"Hey Lexi, would you mind going back down to your movie? I just need to talk to your mom for a minute, okay?" Ranger made his voice as soft as was possible for him.

"Okay." Lexi was unimpressed and unaware of the completely panicked vibes Amy was throwing off. "But your missing the movie."

"We'll be down soon, I promise." Ranger responded quickly. He watched Lexi go down the stairs and as soon as he could no longer see her he pushed Amy back into her room and quietly shut the door. He grabbed her hands in both of his, "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"I can't…I don't know…" Amy closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, she kept her eyes closed as she talked quickly to get as much out as she could. "I got a call from my lawyer in Florida because one of Troy's appeals is actually going to court, or at least being considered by a judge. He could be out on parole in twelve to eighteen months instead of eight to nine years. My lawyer is filing the aggravated domestic abuse charges that I dropped because he was already getting plenty of time for the drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter charges. Which would make him ineligible for the early parole program he's trying to get in to. Plus he's trying to get his parental rights back and my lawyer said he might actually win some visitation. And I just can't…" Telling Ranger made it all too real and she broke down bawling.

Ranger swept Amy into his arms and sat down on the edge of the bed with her on his lap. He didn't say anything at first, just held her tight and rubbed a hand up and down her back with his face pressed into her hair.

"What do you need me to do?" He finally spoke once her crying had calmed down to a quiet occasional sob. "I can hire a team of lawyers and throw everything they can find at him."

"My lawyer is pretty good, he's the one who dealt with everything from the beginning so he's familiar with my case and Troy's history. I don't think more lawyers is the answer."

"More lawyers is always the answer." Ranger said as he dug his phone out of his pocket with one hand, the other holding Amy firmly against his chest. Before she'd even realized what he was doing Ranger had his phone to his ear. "Yo, it's Ranger. I need you to call a lawyer in Florida," he looked down at Amy and asked his name, she told him knowing that he would back down from this. "David Findlay. He handling my girlfriend's case. I won't go into the details now, but I need this taken care of. As in done and over with, yesterday." He pushed the end button and stuffed his phone back in his pocket.

"I know you won't listen, but you really don't have to do that." Amy whispered.

"Shush," he leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to hers. "This is not going to happen. He won't be getting out and he definitely won't be getting visitation."

"I hope that's all true. But Thank You Ranger, so much."

"I'll always do anything I can for you, and for Lexi."

A few more tears fell before Amy finally sucked in a deep breath, "We should probably get downstairs before Lexi eats all our lunch."

"There's like six or seven entrees in that bag, there's no way she could eat all of it." Ranger teased as he stood up after Amy had got off of his lap.

"You've never seen her at a Chinese buffet, that girl can pack it away." Amy teased as she started down the stairs first.

"So Lexi, your mom told me how much you like Chinese food," Ranger was standing at the island in the kitchen pulling Chinese take out boxes out of the bags on the counter. "I brought you plenty of choices, sesame chicken, Mongolian beef, pot stickers, crab rangoons, fried rice, garlic chicken, lo mein noodles, hot and sour soup, sweet and sour pork, general chicken, beef and vegetables and pepper chicken. Oh and some really yummy seasoned green beans."

"Yummmmm!" Lexi's eyes were huge as she watched Ranger open and line up all of the boxes.

"Sweetie, where are your plates, utensils, bowls?"

"Oh, let me…"

"Nope," Ranger interrupted her. "Just tell me, or point. You two sit down, I'm here to take care of my girls."

Lexi's grin grew even bigger and she smiled knowingly at her mom. Amy knew that Ranger had just single-handedly won Lexi over in about two minutes. He'd brought not only her favorite food but her own personal Chinese buffet and insisted on waiting on her like the little princess she thinks she is. Judging by the smile on his face he knew he'd won her over.

"Plates and bowls in the cabinet to the right of the sink. Silverware is in the drawer right in front of you."

"Okay. You two ladies just pick what you want." Ranger quickly grabbed all of Amy's large tablespoons out of the drawer along with a few forks then got the plates and bowls out of the cabinet. "I'm serving, so Lexi, what can I get you?"

Ranger filled her plate up with food and got her a small bowl of soup. Amy couldn't help but smile as she told him what she wanted and he graciously filled her plate with food and ladled some soup into her bowl as well. After filling up his own plate with noticeably less food than he'd put on either Amy's or Lexi's he started to sit down next to Amy. He suddenly popped back up and went to the fridge. Amy couldn't disguise the look of total surprise when he put a can of Mountain Dew in front of her.

"How did you know?"

"Oh c'mon, you should know by now that I can find out anything." He winked then sat down and started on his food.

Over lunch Ranger chatted up a storm with Lexi, and he quickly discovered that she was a carbon copy of her mother. She had beautiful blue eyes that were constantly assessing his expressions and gestures, which he'd noticed over the last couple of years but especially the last couple of weeks was something that Amy did as well. Her long chestnut brown hair, that was identical in color to Amy's, fell almost to her waist. And she talked cheerfully about school and her dance classes. Over that short hour, Ranger realized that he was absolutely, one hundred percent, head over heels in love with Amy. Lexi was the icing on the cake.


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's a Thanksgiving surprise for everyone. I just couldn't hold off on posting this chapter for another week, so I'm posting it now!**

 **I can't believe there are people who actually want to read what I write. Talk about a confidence booster for my other writing! Thanks for reading and for all of the positive feedback, I love it!**

 **My disclaimer for this chapter…I'm not a lawyer nor a legal expert. I did study Criminal Justice in college and worked in corrections for five years. That's the extent of my legal knowledge. So if anyone reads this chapter and thinks/knows the charges and/or the sentencing doesn't make sense…it probably doesn't lol!**

 **Chapter 10**

After lunch, Lexi had gone back to the living room to watch her movie leaving Ranger and Amy in the kitchen cleaning up. Ranger was putting the leftover food away in the fridge while Amy rinsed dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Amy wasn't talking, she wasn't in the mood to just chat but she also didn't want to get into what she knew would be a heavy discussion and have Lexi hear something she wasn't ready for her to hear. Thankfully Ranger was good at not talking.

"I can stay for the afternoon, I don't really have anything going on this afternoon." Ranger finally broke the silence.

"I'm okay, really. I mean yes I'm freaking out but my lawyer is good, I know he's going to do everything he can to keep Troy in prison and from getting any say over Lexi."

Ranger nodded. "I'm not doubting…" he stopped as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered immediately after seeing the name on the Caller ID. "Yo."

Amy watched as Ranger mainly listened to the other person, giving one syllable noises and answers now and then. She worried she was eavesdropping, but realized that if he hadn't wanted her to hear he would've left the room. Even so, she went back to cleaning up the kitchen and Ranger eventually walked over to the patio doors and stepped out to the deck. After she finished clearing up lunch she went back to the living room and attempted to read. She had read the exact same sentence about twenty times before she heard the patio door open.

"Amy," he got her attention and motioned for her to step outside with him. After closing the door behind her he held his phone out in front of him. "John I have you on speakerphone so Amy can join in on the conversation, but repeat everything you just told me."

"Okay. Well I was just telling Ranger that Troy has absolutely no say in anything that happens in your life or Lexi's life right now. One thing that you have on your side is you have a steady job and have been able to provide your daughter with a stable and loving home. She has friends, she participates in dance and other school and community events and activities. The court is going to side heavily with you, that removing her from her stable environment and having her visit some guy that she doesn't really even know in a prison in Florida hundreds of miles away from her home isn't really in her best interests. However, your lawyer is right on one thing, Lexi is getting older and better able to understand why her father is in prison. So establishing that taking her out of her current routine would be detrimental is key. I'm working with your lawyer on that. We're going to set up a meeting with a family counselor and a child psychologist to kind of set the ground work on that."

"That sounds great." Amy couldn't help but smile up at Ranger. He really would do anything for her and Lexi.

"Another thing that could help a lot, which I was discussing with Ranger and is why he brought you in on the conversation, one thing that could help your case even more is if we made it even harder for Troy to prove that Lexi needs him. Technically she doesn't have a father figure in her life right now. However, if you two were to get married and Ranger adopted Lexi, the court would have a harder time proving that Troy's presence in her life would be beneficial."

Amy was pretty sure that she'd lost the ability to speak. She looked at Ranger and found that he had schooled his expression to be neutral. She couldn't even begin to formulate a response to that. After nearly a minute of silence Ranger stepped in.

"I realize time is of the essence with this, but when should we try to get this done?"

"The sooner the better." They could hear John shuffling some paperwork around in the background. " It'll take a few months at least to get any kind of deposition or actual court hearing for an initial appearance. David is going to have the domestic assault charges done and filed by the end of the day. But it'll still take some time to get all of the necessary paperwork and evidence together, especially since the incident happened years ago. In the mean time you guys would be giving Lexi exactly what she needs, you would be providing her with a stable home with two loving parents. Troy's argument wouldn't carry much weight, with him still being in prison and then looking at even more time than he started out with."

"Thank You John, we're going to discuss this and I will get back to you as soon as I can. But I would go ahead and get as much of the paperwork done now that you can."

"Okay. It would be in your best interest to have a pre-nuptial agreement drawn up. Amy, I sincerely hope that doesn't offend you." John really did sound uncomfortable bringing that subject up knowing that she and Ranger hadn't even talked about marriage let alone a pre-nuptial contract.

"No, I'm definitely not offended." Amy could answer that at least. The whole marriage thing itself was a different subject altogether.

"I will talk to Amy and we'll figure out where we want to go from here. I agree that we'll need to draw up some sort of agreement," Ranger looked at her and he actually seemed like he felt a little bad about agreeing with his lawyer. "Amy and I will talk about all of that and I'll get back to you John."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll do what I can for now and you just let me know when to proceed with everything."

"I will." Ranger pushed the end button and carefully watched Amy's face to see just how far he was pushing her. He didn't want her to break down again, or to kick him out. Getting married after a week of dating wasn't exactly how he'd seen this going. But he knew Amy was the one, and he couldn't stand to see her upset. If getting married and adopting Lexi would help, he would do it.

"I never would have imagined that you and I would be talking marriage already, Ranger. I'm not taking back anything I said over the weekend. But we haven't even been dating a week. Is that going to seem like a stable relationship to a judge?" She linked her fingers on top of her head and walked to the edge of the deck. "This is just a lot to take in, all in one day. First Troy could get out on early parole, then he's seeking parental rights and visitation. Now you and your lawyer are saying we should get married so you can adopt Lexi. It's all just, too much. My brain has totally shut down."

Ranger slowly walked up behind her, stopping just a few inches from her. "I get it Amy. I know this is overwhelming. Despite what John said, this does not have to be done today. Your lawyer is taking care of filing the charges against Troy, so the most important part is done." Ranger put his hands on Amy's shoulder's, turning her so that she faced him. Once she had turned she dropped her arms, so Ranger took her hands in his. "I don't have any pressing meetings, I'm going to reschedule what I have for the rest of the afternoon. We're going to spend some time together. As you feel up to it we'll talk. How does that sound?"

Amy looked into Ranger's intense eyes and nodded as he squeezed her hands. "I think that would be nice."

They walked back into the house and joined Lexi watching her movie in the living room. Ranger sat down on the couch and pulled Amy down to sit next to him with his arm around her shoulders. He turned and kissed the side of her head before he settled in to watch the movie. It was over halfway over with but Ranger quickly caught on to the plot of the movie and loved that it was about The Day of the Dead.

"Hey Lexi," she turned to look at him, "Did you know that The Day of the Dead is a real Spanish holiday?"

"No, I didn't." she looked fascinated. "What do you do for it?"

"Well, I'm Cuban, so not technically Spanish, but we still celebrated. Honestly the Manoso's love any reason to gather all of the family and eat a lot of good food. But it's held on the first of November. In some countries they have parades. We never went that far here but we build an altar on our front yard to honor and celebrate all of our loved ones who had passed away. It's a day to remember our family members and ancestors who aren't with us anymore."

"Does your family still celebrate it?"

"We haven't missed a year that I know of."

"Cool! Can we come this year?!"

"Absolutely." Ranger smiled at her. "I would love for you and your mom to join us."

"Yay!" Lexi was practically bouncing in her seat.

Amy could tell that Lexi was going to start counting down the days and pestering her every single day if it was The Day of the Dead yet. "She's not going to forget that."

"I don't want her to."

Amy smiled, but her smile quickly faded. "Are you sure you want to take this step?"

Ranger knew she wasn't referring to The Day of the Dead celebration. "Yes. I told you I would do anything for the two of you. I meant it."

"There needs to be a pre-nuptial agreement. I don't want your company. I actually don't really want anything."

"If you want to talk details," Ranger glanced quickly at Lexi, who was absolutely captivated by the movie, then looked back to Amy, "Usually the way it's worded you would be entitled to fifty percent ownership for the duration of our marriage. If something were to happen to me you would be the sole owner. If we divorced, you would forfeit your fifty percent. Right now I'm the sole owner but my current will leaves the company to Tank. That would obviously change."

"Ranger I don't really know how to run your company. Leave Tank as the beneficiary to take over."

"I'll meet you in the middle. Tank will take over my fifty percent."

"Okay." Amy conceded. "But the house is yours. You just bought it and your putting all of this money into it. I'm putting nothing into it."

"Where would you go?"

"Hello, it's the twenty-first century, I do make my own money. I can get a house for myself."

"I might be building another three-car detached garage, being out on an acreage I'm thinking about getting some ATV's and dirt bikes and other fun stuff for me and the guys to do with our time off. And for training purposes as well. I can put a two-bedroom apartment above it. If, and that's a big if, we were to divorce I could live in the apartment and you and the kids can keep the house. I don't want to displace the kids, that would be stressful for everyone."

"You have kids on the brain, don't you?" Amy shot Ranger an accusing glare with a cheeky grin.

"I do, I won't lie. I'm no spring chicken." He just smiled.

"I'm beginning to think that Friday night was intentional." She teased.

"It definitely was not intentional. But I can hope."

"Okay, I suppose you living in an apartment on the property wouldn't be bad."

"You wouldn't have to quit your job. I would never force you out if we split."

"This just seems so wrong to talk about. I know that it's all hypothetical but it seems almost prophetic considering our short relationship thus far."

"Do I seem like an impulsive person?" He waited for her to respond, finally continuing a few seconds later after she had shook her head No. "I carefully think about everything. I know we haven't been dating long at all, but we've known each other for years. This is it, you and Lexi are what I want."

"When do you want all of this to happen?"

"That's totally up to you. We can do a quickie courthouse wedding or just get a justice of the peace to come to us."

"No." Amy interjected, "Your family should be there. I can try to get my dad and siblings here, although there's no promises there. How long do you think it'll take to get everything organized?"

"How many people are you thinking?"

"Well, however many people from your family, plus all of the Rangeman employees which is about forty. If my dad, stepmom, and siblings all come that's nine or ten depending on significant others. None of my grandparents are alive."

"Okay, with my family, my daughter Julie, we would probably only be looking at about a hundred people."

"I've never had to rent anywhere in Trenton to hold a party before, so I don't even know where to begin."

"I have a crazy idea. How fancy do you want this party to be? Do you want the ceremony in a church then a special sit-down meal at a different venue?"

"I hope you don't feel offended, but I've kind of already done all of that. I'll probably end up finding a nice formal dress off the rack somewhere. We can just do the ceremony and reception at the same place, don't you think?" Amy really didn't want to upset Ranger if he was hoping for a church wedding with her wearing white.

"I think that sounds nice. I was actually debating on having it at the new house. We won't have any furniture out there so we can set things up however we want. We can do the ceremony standing up in the formal living room. We can set up a buffet on the island in the kitchen and set up small tables for three or four people each around the dining room and the family room. We can bring in heaters for the patio."

"The contractors haven't even started on the house yet. So we're looking at late October or early November in New Jersey, you do realize there could be six inches of snow by then, right?" Amy was looking at him like he was crazy.

"We've had an unseasonably warm fall so far. If it does snow we won't set up the patio. But if it's warm enough it gives everyone more room."

"You'll have to talk to Bobby, the formal living room will have to be completely overhauled in less than a month, if he can't do that we can move the party back a couple weeks." Amy got up grabbed a notepad and pen off the end table by her chair. "I'm going to start making a list." She sat back down next to Ranger.

"Since we know our venue is available whenever and it's free, I guess I need to start planning. I'll call Bobby and see if he can speed up the plans for the house. Or at least just the main floor that we'll be using."

Amy started scribbling away on the notepad. "We'll need to contact a rental company to get tables and chairs." Amy was adding line after line of things to do and had quit talking.

Ranger looked over at the list to see she'd added dress shopping, pick colors or theme, dress for Lexi, caterer/food, invitations, cake, and need to finalize paint colors for entire house.

"That's a heck of a list already sweetheart." Ranger took the pen and notepad from her and added one to-do of his own. "You can't cross this one off."

Amy took the pen and notepad back and saw that he'd added a spa day for her and Lexi. "I definitely will not be crossing that off."

They were sitting there chatting quietly about wedding plans, and didn't even notice that Lexi's movie was over and she was standing not three feet from them. "Why are you making a list, mom?"

Amy's head quickly shot up and she looked a little panicked at answering Lexi's question. "Well baby, we're planning a party."

"For your birthday?!" Lexi clapped her hands together. "I want to help!"

"No, it's not for my birthday."

"Is that coming up soon?" Ranger gave her a curious look.

"Uh hu," Lexi nodded. "Mom's birthday is October eighth."

Ranger did his signature head tilt and gave Amy's knee a little squeeze, "When were you going to tell me it was your birthday in less than two weeks?"

"Oh come on, I've worked for you for years and I know you've practically memorized my employee file. You had to have remembered it was my birthday coming up next month."

"I didn't memorize your file," at Amy's knowing stare he added, "Okay, I didn't memorize ALL of your file. I'll admit that your birthday slipped by me."

"If the party isn't for your birthday, what is it for?"

Amy shook her head just once at Ranger, letting him know not to say anything yet. "It's just a party for work baby."

"But I promise we will plan an awesome party for your moms birthday." Ranger smiled at Lexi, whose face lit up.

Amy could see that Lexi really did need a male figure in her life. Other than the few times they had visited Amy's family, she'd never seen Lexi around men. She was different with Ranger than she was with her grandpa and uncles. Ranger intently listened while Lexi told him what we usually did for my birthday, and he chimed in occasionally with a small change of his own here or there. Of course Lexi agreed with him every time.

"Should I leave the two of you alone to plan the party without me?" Amy teased.

"Mom!" Lexi laughed.

Ranger just grinned, "No," he winked at Lexi before looking at Amy, "I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve. But I think we should probably have dinner with my parents this week. What night would work best for you?"

"I have dance class Thursday night, and mom and I do our girls night on Wednesday's." Lexi quickly chimed in.

"I'll call my mom and find out what they have going on for the week. We may have to do Friday night." Ranger took Amy's hand in his, something that didn't go unnoticed by Lexi.

"Lex, we can change our girls night plans to another night or to the weekend." Amy was quick to reassure Lexi that they would still have their girls night, even if it wasn't on the night they usually did it.

"Yeah, I guess." She didn't seem upset or overly emotional about that change. With girls you just never knew for sure what would cause a meltdown. Although Amy was pretty sure that Ranger's presence was the cause of her current state of calmness.

Ranger stood, pulling Amy up with him. "I'm going to need another pad of paper and a pen. I need to borrow your computer too. I've got to get started on some of these things today."

"Yeah, my office is through the French doors in the dining room." Amy started walking with Ranger to her office. "I probably need to start working on my list too."

Once they were in her office with Ranger sitting at the desk and Amy sitting in one of her comfy leather reading chairs, Amy finally got a chance to just sit and think.

"Everything okay over there?" Ranger had his phone out, the computer on with his email pulled up, and was writing down some quick notes on the paper in front of him.

Amy smiled, "Yeah. I'm just overwhelmed." Noticing Ranger's slight look of concern Amy quickly continued, "Not by you. Well, you do overwhelm me and the two of us getting married and moving to your huge mansion in Princeton is overwhelming, but not in an altogether bad way. All of the other crap, the legal stuff, just has me feeling slightly like I'm drowning."

Ranger stood up and walked to her. He sat on the ottoman in front of her chair and grabbed her hands firmly in his. "You don't need to feel overwhelmed by that. The best part about having a husband, even if we're not technically married yet, is that you have someone to share your burdens. My lawyers are all over it. I know your worried and that nothing I say will make you stop worrying. Can you at least try to worry a little less knowing that I'm worried about everything too?"

Amy leaned forward pressing her lips to Ranger's. She'd meant for it to just be a light-hearted kiss, to tell him thank you for being so amazing and supportive. But as was usually the case, things got hot and heavy pretty fast. In less than sixty seconds Ranger had her straddling him with his arms crushing her to him and she was clutching fistfuls of his shirt.

"Mom, are we going…" Lexi's voice from the doorway caught them off guard and Amy quickly retreated back to her chair. Lexi's expression told Amy that she wasn't impressed at finding her mom making out with her new boyfriend.

"Hey baby." Amy smiled at Lexi, thankful that at least she and Ranger hadn't taken any clothes off.

Lexi's face still looked like Amy had told her she was only getting brussel sprouts for dinner. "Weren't we going to go grocery shopping?" Lexi stayed in the doorway.

Ranger moved back to the desk. "We could all go."

Amy shook her head. "We could. But you really should probably get in touch with your lawyer and the contractor and whatever else you've added to your list. We need a time frame and the paperwork needs to be started ASAP."

"True, true. Do you want me to go back to my place? Or can I stay here?"

"Just stay here." Amy stood up. "Lex, why don't you go change out of your pajamas and we'll leave in about ten minutes."

"Okay!" Lexi ran off to go upstairs to her bedroom.

"Any special requests for supper?" Amy pulled up her notes on her phone to check her grocery list and add what she'd need for dinner.

"I get to stay for supper too?" He playfully teased her. "Any chance I can stay for the night?"

"That's a negative boss, I don't want those questions from Lexi in the morning."

"We'll have to explain things to her eventually."

"Yes we will. But I think we all need some time, and I want to give her time to adjust to us. She's kind of going to get hit with everything all at once. So I'd like to space it out a little."

"Fair enough." Ranger tilted his head slightly. "What were you planning to make for dinner?"

"I make really good eggplant roll ups, it's not necessarily super healthy because the eggplant is pan-fried in olive oil but it's good. And Lex loves veggies so I was going to roast some fresh vegetables."

"Sounds good to me."

"Well your easy. I figured you'd insist on some twigs and berries or something." Amy teased.

"Eggplant is really good for you. And of course roasted veggies are too. But now that you mention it, a salad wouldn't be bad."

"I'll add fresh lettuce to my list. Any preference on dressing? I tend to make all our dressings, they taste better. I have a creamy balsamic, Italian, and ranch-all homemade-in the fridge right now."

"I'll try one of those."

"Okay." Amy looked up as they heard Lexi practically running down the stairs. "Well, there's my cue to leave. It'll probably take us a little over an hour or so to get our groceries and drive there and back."

"Sounds good. I should still be here. I'm going to call Bobby first, I'm probably going to have to give him a little cash incentive to get the house plans done sooner and see how long it will take to get the formal living room done. Then I'll call John back to have him get to work on the prenup and start the adoption paperwork."

"We can't really set a date until we know when Bobby can get the first floor of the house done, or at least the formal living room."

"I'd like for all of the first floor to be done, since most everyone will be visiting the house for the first time."

"Well I hate to say it, but you might want to offer him a pretty large cash incentive."

"I'm planning on it."

"Mom, are you ready to go yet?" Lexi walked back in the office.

"Yes. Go get your shoes on, I'll be right behind you."

"You girls go, I'll be here."

"Sounds good. We'll be back." Amy smiled and lifted her hand, giving Ranger an obnoxiously cutesy finger wave with a wink.

"Why don't you come closer and do that?" His voice somehow managed to get rougher and even lower than normal.

"Because I've already been caught making out with my boyfriend…"

"Fiancé."

"Nuance." Amy started walking backwards towards the door. "Anyways, I really don't want Lexi walking in on us getting busy on my desk."

"That puts ideas in my head that are going to make it really hard to work on my to-do list."

"You'll manage."

"Bye Sweetheart."

"Bye." Amy saw Ranger's wink just before she left the room. That man was impossibly sexy without even trying.


	11. Chapter 11

**Some people commented about how fast Ranger and Amy are moving, which is true. I alluded to the fact that he's had feelings for her for a while but I guess I should've written that out in a bit more detail. So after I first typed up this chapter I went back and added a flashback to try and help clarify things a little. This probably should have been the prologue, but I think I was just kind of carried away with the idea of their first date.**

 **As always, thanks for reading! I love all of the feedback and I'll admit that I get butterflies after I post each new chapter because I'm so excited to see how many people are reading. Enjoy!**

 **The original characters belong to JE, the rest is my crazy imagination and craziness.**

 **Chapter 11**

Grocery shopping was a fairly easy task, considering Amy and Lexi weren't overly picky people and it was just the two of them. That would all change, very soon. That was a little scary and intimidating. Amy was more than a little distracted as they shopped. She was worried about living with someone else other than Lexi for the first time in five years. How would Lexi handle not just moving out of the only house she's ever known but to a different school as well? At least she knew that so far Lexi really seemed to like Ranger, although they really did need to spend more time together.

Amy was a little surprised to see Ranger standing in the door to the house when the garage door rolled all the way up. He met her at the back of her Jeep.

"I'll get the bags." Ranger said before Amy could even reach for her reusable grocery bags.

"Ever the gentleman, thank you." Amy let him take all the bags then she pulled down the hatch.

"So, Bobby is going to push to get the plans done by the end of the week. He's going to call me Thursday and let me know how it's going, and hopefully we can meet him at his office to sign off on the plans Friday. Once he was our signatures for the plans he can apply for the permits he needs."

"Our signatures?" Amy stopped just inside the kitchen as Ranger set the bags on the counter. He carefully watched her to see if she was upset by something he'd said. "Lex, go on up and play in your room for a bit. Okay?"

"Okay mom." Lexi scampered off to her room.

Ranger wasn't sure what he'd said. "What's wrong?"

"Why would the contractor need our signatures? It's your house."

"I signed the paperwork for the house today, so technically it is only mine, for now. But as soon as we're married your name is going on the deed as well. So of course I want you to sign off on the improvements."

"Okay." Amy joined Ranger at the island and started putting groceries away.

Ranger let out an audible sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to be upset."

"No, I was just confused." Amy kept putting groceries away. "So how long does he think it'll take to get moving on it?"

"He said his best guess is about two weeks. He said the work itself won't take an extremely long time since the formal living room is the only room going through major changes. The rest is just being repainted or refinished. His best guess is it could be ready to go the end of October or the first week of November."

Amy nodded. "What if we did a Thanksgiving wedding? Your family will all mostly be home then, right?"

"Yeah, they should be."

"I know that would put it back a little later than we were thinking, but then maybe the whole house could be done and most of our family should be able to make it since they'll already be here for the holiday. I'll call my dad, I'm sure he and Carrie would be okay with coming here instead of Lexi and I going there, instead of missing our wedding. It also gives us more time to get all of the plans made"

"A Thanksgiving wedding should work."

"I'll start calling around for the rentals and try to find a caterer. Do you have any preferences or special requests on food?"

"I guess that depends on how formal you want it to be?"

"Didn't we already kind of agree on it being somewhat casual and relaxed?"

Ranger tipped his head slightly in agreement, "I suppose we did." Ranger sat at the island while Amy put the last of the groceries away. "What do you think?"

"Well, we could do a Thanksgiving themed meal. Like you said before, we can set up a buffet on the island and people can sit wherever they want to. If we're planning on about 100 people and want to do small tables for four people that would mean we need 20 tables." Amy circled around the island and sat on the stool next to Ranger.

"We could have the formal living room set up with more casual seating, comfortable chairs and lower tables. After the ceremony that is. The weather will more than likely be too cold to use the patio, so we'll cross that off the list now."

"Do you think we could really accomodate one hundred people in the house?"

"You've been there, what do you think?" Ranger watched Amy as she was clearly thinking hard and trying to remember the sizes of the rooms. "The formal dining room should be able to easily fit eight tables, so that takes care of thirty-two people. The formal living room could fit about three or four set ups of comfortable chairs and smaller side tables for probably sixteen people or so. That's about half. The family room should definitely be able to fit the rest of the seating, about another eight tables and then a few more comfortable chair setups."

"Has it really only been a few hours since we got very untraditionally engaged? We seem to have most of our wedding planned out already. Your really moving fast, aren't you?"

"I always move fast when there's something I need, and can't see myself living without."

Amy gasped, she and Ranger had already talked about their feelings and for all intents and purposes were engaged, but they'd never said that always desired l-word. They'd alluded to it, as Ranger had just done, but neither one had actually said it yet. "Ranger, I…" she stopped and looked down at her hands. Ranger covered her clasped hands with one of his and brought the other up under her chin and gently guided her head up so he could look in her eyes. "How are you so sure?"

"Amy, I love you." He smiled, his eyes actually softening and showing her exactly what he was feeling. He brushed his thumb over her cheek, clearing away a stray tear. "You don't have to say anything. I know how you feel. When you're ready, you'll tell me. But I want you to know that I'm all in. I know you've been unsure, so I want you to be reassured by my feelings and my confidence in us."

Amy's one tear turned into a down-pour, but she kept smiling. "You suck." She started laughing, and he joined her.

"Why do I suck? I just told you that I love you, and your response is 'You suck?'" His smile was now an ear-splitting grin as he chuckled at her.

"Yes, you suck. I was just about to tell you that I feel like I must be crazy because I already know that I love you."

Ranger pulled her off her stool and into his lap, for the second time that day. "I would insist you move in with me now, but my apartment just isn't quite made for a family and a dog. So do you mind if I move in with you until the house is ready?"

"Eventually. I still think that Lexi needs some time. She just found out today that I have a boyfriend. Once we get all of the house and wedding stuff finalized, we'll tell her that we're getting married and then you can move in. I promise."

"Okay." Ranger conceded, only because he was already formulating his plan for when he was going to actually propose and make things official. "I also called my mom."

"Oh good!" Amy moved off of Ranger's lap to let Flynn out into the backyard. "So when's dinner?"

"Friday night. Dinner is always ready at 6, but my mom insisted we get there earlier. What time does Lexi get out of school?"

"Three fifteen." Amy went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. She tipped it towards Ranger, silently asking him if he wanted one. He nodded so she grabbed him one and handed it to him.

"Perfect. We can cut out early on Friday and head to my parents place. My mom will probably grill you, it'll feel more like an interrogation actually, but I've never really brought a girl home for dinner so you'll have to take it easy on her."

"You know, believe it or not, I have met parents before. Plus I'm a single mom. I'm pretty sure I can handle a little maternal questioning. I'll help her cook, mother's love it when they know their son is being well taken care of." Amy winked at him "I need to grab my to-do list." Amy went into her office and grabbed her list off of the table by the chair she had been sitting in earlier and went back to the kitchen, sitting next to Ranger. "Any ideas on a good caterer?"

"We might want to consult with Ella on that one."

"Are we telling people yet? No offense," she quickly added. "I just wasn't sure if we would wait until we'd been dating at least a few weeks before we made that announcement."

"I'm pretty sure your engagement ring will tell people eventually."

Amy held her left hand out in front of her wiggling her fingers, "There's no ring yet mister." She smiled mischievously at him then got serious again, "But seriously, I'm guessing that getting a caterer lined up for Thanksgiving weekend with about 7 weeks notice is going to be a little trying. We need to get that done sooner rather than later."

"We could always just tell her that we want to cater a big family dinner."

"And lie to Ella?" Amy feigned shock, "She will be so mad at you when she finds out."

"Somehow I think that she'll be more excited that I'm finally getting married than she'll be mad that I lied. Especially since the wedding will be the reason for the lie. Besides, she's a forgiving kind of woman. She'll be annoyed at first but mostly she'll be thrilled." Ranger just kept smiling. "What else do we need to do?"

"We'll need a photographer, and we'll have to decide what we want for cake or dessert. Oh, I didn't even think about a DJ. If we have tables set up all throughout the house where would we dance?" Amy started chewing on her bottom lip.

"We definitely need to have a DJ, we have to have our first dance. You know, I completely forgot about the basement. There's a regulation-size basketball court. That would be big enough to set up tables and a buffet on about half of it and the other half could be the dance floor." Ranger grabbed her list and added 'Find DJ' to her ever-growing list.

"Wouldn't the tables and chairs scuff the floor?"

"The rental place should have moveable flooring, we should be able to cover the court in that." Ranger pulled his phone out of his pocket to check his e-mail. "Oh good. I got an email back from Bobby already, he's going to get us the plans for the house by end of day Wednesday. If we sign off on them by Friday morning he can get the necessary permits and get started next week."

"That's fast." Amy took a drink of her bottle of water. "What if we used the garage that's attached to the house?"

"For what, the reception?"

"As our dance area. I just feel weird having people go downstairs to the gym, then we'd have people all over the house. I think we should try to keep everyone on one level."

Ranger considered for a minute before agreeing. "Yeah, I hadn't really thought about that. There's a door at the bottom of the stairs we can lock to keep people from going down there. I'll have to get a couple of the Rangeman guys to stand at the stairs to keep people from going upstairs. I really don't want people messing around in the bedrooms. We'll have to lock our bedroom door, but that'll be where you and Lex can get ready. I'll use the office."

"Sounds like a good plan." Amy stood and went around to the other side of the island. "I guess I'd better start prepping for supper."

"Do you need any help?"

"Thanks, but no I've got it. You get as much done on the party planning as you can so that I don't have to do it later." Amy opened the fridge and pulled out the eggplant, romano cheese, ricotta cheese, and eggs.

"You know I do know how to cook." Ranger wasn't really looking forward to trying to track down good vendors for their Thanksgiving wedding any more than Amy, but it needed to be done.

"Oh I know." Amy walked towards the patio doors and went outside. She came back in a few minutes later with a bunch of green leaves in her hand.

"What's that?"

"Basil for the pesto."

"You make your own pesto?"

"I make my own everything when I can. I love to cook. Honestly if I hadn't worked in food service in college I probably would've switched to culinary school. I just figured out that I really don't deal well with stupid people."

She had Ranger laughing again. "You do really well at Rangeman, so I'm really glad that you didn't pursue culinary school."

She pulled the small food processor out and started measuring out ingredients to make the pesto. "You might want to go in the office and close the doors, this is going to be a little loud for a few minutes."

Ranger escaped to the office, and even through the closed doors he could hear the pulsing of the food processor. He knew he should be making calls but all he could do was smile as he thought about how nice it was to finally have Amy. He'd been instantly attracted to her when he interviewed her for her current job, something Tank had noticed from day one. Tank had predicted nearly this exact outcome after Amy's first week at Rangeman.

"You okay boss?"

Ranger's head suddenly popped up, "What?"

"The meeting has been over for a solid three minutes now. You haven't moved an inch."

"I was just thinking about the Phillips account, we might have to hire on some new guys to help in the programming department. I'll have to set up a meeting with Amy to have her tell me what she's going to need and have her write up the job requirements."

"Oh you were thinking about Amy alright." Tank deadpanned.

"Oh back off. I was not thinking about her, not like that."

"Sure thing boss."

The next afternoon Amy was sitting across from him at his desk, and all Range could think about was how devastatingly beautiful her light blue eyes were, like a bright and cloudless summer sky. It took him a minute to realize she was asking him a question and he hadn't been paying attention.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked how much the budget is for the new hires. I wasn't sure how many openings we would be advertising for."

"How many do you think you'll need? The Phillips account is going to be big, and if he's as happy with the system as he seems to be, it's going to bring in a lot of business. So I think it would be good to be proactive about that possibly influx of programming needs."

"Well when you put it that way, I would like to hire three new guys for sure. And possibly keep a list of potentials for later if we need more."

Ranger nodded once and made some notes, as did Amy. "Three sounds fair. Once you get me the job description, I'll forward it to CJ after I review it and we'll get it posted by the end of the week."

Amy smiled. "Sounds great." She stood quickly, being around Ranger always made her nervous and she didn't want him to know it. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," he stood but didn't move around his desk. "Are you seeing anyone?"

Amy chortled then blushed slightly and looked down at her feet. "Sorry, no I'm not. I uh, had kind of a bad breakup in Miami. It's the reason I moved up here."

"I'm sorry." Ranger already knew about her ex-husband of course, but he didn't want Amy to know how much he knew. "How do you like it here so far? It's definitely not nearly the same as Miami, but Trenton isn't bad."

"I like it a lot, it's nice. I'm looking for a house not far from here, there's a really good school district just fifteen minutes from here."

"You have kids?" Ranger didn't think she had school-aged kids, just the toddler-aged daughter.

"I have a daughter Alexa, I call her Lexi, and she's eighteen months old now. I want to make sure our house is in a good school district since she'll be starting in a few years."

"That makes sense." He wasn't good at idle chit chat but he didn't want her to leave his office either.

"I should get back to my office and get that description typed up for you."

"Okay. I'll let you know when it's posted and when we're ready to do interviews."

Amy nodded, "Sounds good. Thanks Ranger, I'll see you around."

"See you around." As soon as she walked out of his office Ranger dropped back down into his seat and rubbed his hands over his face. He'd never felt like such an idiot around a woman before. Amy definitely brought out something different in him.

"Hey boss," Tank walked in and closed the door behind him. "You look strange." He sat down in the chair Amy had just left a few minutes earlier. "Wasn't Amy just in here?"

"Yeah, why?" Ranger had his blank expression plastered on his face hoping Tank wouldn't notice. But of course Tank noticed, he was the only person who knew all of Ranger's tells.

"You really like her, don't you?"

"No, I don't. She's my employee."

"Being your employee doesn't make her less attractive. And you can wipe that fake unaffected look off your face. You like her and it bugs you."

"I don't like her, so I'm not bugged. I do however have to make sure we have enough money in the budget for three more programmers. The Phillips account is probably going to bring in some new clients, big name clients, so we need to be ready for that."

"I'll talk to CJ in HR." Tank didn't give any indication that he was leaving to do so. "What about Stephanie?"

Ranger looked up and gave Tank a hard stare. "What about her?"

"This thing with Amy, is it bigger than whatever you've got going on with Stephanie?" Tank knew the question was going to piss Ranger off before he even asked it, but he'd never seen his boss and best friend so affected by a woman before. Not even by Stephanie, and that woman has gotten Ranger to do a lot of things differently over the last few years.

"What in the hell are you talking about? There's nothing going on with Amy. And Stephanie is a friend, she's never wanted anything more than that and I'm not in any position to give her anything more."

Tank gave him a single nod. "You have more to offer than you think."

"Not with my job, you know that."

"What is it going to take to make you quit taking these crazy covert missions?"

"I'll know when it's time to quit. And I'm not there yet."

Tank finally stood. "You won't like what I'm about to say, but it wouldn't be the first time and it definitely won't be the last."

"Like that ever stops you." Ranger muttered.

"You really like Amy and it bothers you that you like her. Don't deny it, because I know when you're lying. I think that you and Amy could be good together."

"Now you've gone crazy. She has a kid. She'll want marriage and probably more kids. You know that's not me."

"Maybe not right now. But you'll change your mind, eventually. And when you end up marrying that gorgeous woman, I'm going to say I told you so. Oh and your first born better be named after me."

"You've officially lost it. I'm going to call Bobby to have him check you out. Were you in the ring with someone during your morning workout?"

Tank just laughed as he opened Ranger's office door and walked out. What had gotten into that guy?

Ranger chuckled to himself and wondered if Amy would be okay with naming their first son after Tank. He shook his head at the thought and started on the to-do list. They really didn't have a lot of time to plan this wedding but Ranger really wanted it to be special for Amy.

The week seemed to fly by. Amy and Ranger had lunch in his apartment every day, they always had something new to talk about. Ranger told Amy about his childhood, his rebellious high school days, his time in the Army, his very short first marriage and about his first daughter Julie, and he also gave her some more details about his relationship-or lack there of-with Stephanie. Amy talked about her childhood, she didn't have rebellious high school stories since she was basically a goody two-shoes in school with a 4.0 GPA and was involved in a lot of extracurricular activities.

It had been Thursday during lunch when Ranger learned just how much of a rule-follower and perfectionist Amy had been in high school.

"So you never skipped a day of class, just for fun?"

"No way!" Amy put down her bottle of water. "The school would've called my dad and I would've been in so much trouble."

That made Range throw his head back and laugh. "So what did you do for fun?"

"I had a group of close friends, both guys and girls, and we would go see a movie or go bowling or something."

"Woah look out!" Ranger was still laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm making fun of you. But you were the group of kids that I made fun of in high school."

"No need to apologize. I knew I was goody two-shoes. But I knew that getting good grades and being involved in sports would get me more scholarships for school. My dad wouldn't have been able to afford to help much with school, and my moms was basically just gone. I didn't want him to feel obligated to help me. He paid for my books and gave me cash now and then. I worked on campus to help with tuition. But I was still an overachiever in college too. Well, you already kind of know that, we talked about that before."

Ranger just smiled and nodded. "So, are you ready for dinner tomorrow night?"

Amy grinned around the bite of salad she'd just taken and nodded. "I'm actually excited to meet your family."

He cocked his head slightly to the side and narrowed his eyes at her, studying her. "You're excited to meet them?" He was extremely suspicious of her answer. "You're supposed to be nervous."

"Well, I might be a little nervous. But mostly excited." She wasn't just smiling, her whole face was beaming.

"Why are you excited about meeting my family for the first time?" The woman didn't make any sense.

"Well, I know that you've told me a lot about yourself in just the last couple of weeks. But your family will tell me all of the funny and embarrassing stories that you yourself would probably never tell me."

Ranger realized he had underestimated Amy yet again, she was definitely one smart woman. "I kind of wish I could make you wait to meet them now. But we're a little short on time." He went back to his salad.

"Your just mad because you know I'm right."

Ranger ignored her, didn't even spare a glance at her as he kept eating his salad. Which only made Amy laugh and prod him a little more.

"Oh and baby pictures! I just can't wait to see baby pictures of a cute little Carlos, probably naked, covered head to toe in spaghetti or cake or some other messy food." Amy was thoroughly enjoying herself and she could tell that he was definitely reevaluating taking her to meet his family.

Ranger hated to admit it, but he knew that his mom would be pulling out the baby pictures as soon as the dining table was cleared off. "You know that goes both ways, right? I'll have to spend some time with your family eventually, do you think your dad won't do the same thing?"

"I don't really have that many embarrassing stories. My dad probably has a few, but none that I can really think of off hand. I didn't meet Carrie until I was in my teens. She'll probably tell you all about my crush on Justin Timberlake and my obsession with Nsync, but I'm not embarrassed by that. Justin Timberlake is still hot, but now that I'm older I'm not afraid to admit that I think he's sexy."

"Nsync huh?"

"Hey, boy bands were huge when I was in middle and high school. I saw Nsync and 98 degrees in concert, not the same concert but you know."

"Did you buy a t-shirt that said 'I heart Justin Timberlake'?" He couldn't help himself, he had to tease her about her crush on Justin Timberlake.

"No." She shook her head. "I did go to a Justin Timberlake concert last year and bought a t-shirt from his show. I had thought about wearing a shirt to the show asking him to marry me, but I thought that might be a bit much."

That had Ranger chuckling. "So does that mean that if you could go out on a date with JT, you would?" He asked as he collected their lunch dishes and took them to the kitchen.

Amy stood and joined him to help put the dishes in the dishwasher after he rinsed them off. "Hell yeah I would. But I wouldn't do anything more than have dinner with him, just because I think it would be kind of fun to sit down and talk to him over a meal. But to be honest I would go have dinner with any celebrity just to say I got to meet them. It could be Justin Timberlake, Meryl Streep, Jimmy Buffet, pretty much anyone."

"I suppose that's true of most people."

"What about you? Any celebrity crushes or someone you would go have dinner with?"

"You know," Ranger paused. "I have to be honest and admit that I don't follow a lot of the celebrity garbage these days. When I was high school though I definitely had a thing for Cindy Crawford."

Amy nodded, "She's still pretty damn good-looking now. I can see you crushing on her."

"So speaking of baby pictures." Ranger shot her a sideways look to see if she was going to be mad before continuing. "Do you feel pregnant yet?"

"Your never going to drop that, are you? It was one time, I highly doubt I got pregnant from that one time."

"I know. But you could have."

"Do you think about anything other than the small chance that I could be pregnant?"

"Sometimes." He teased. "I was just wondering when we should know."

"Honestly, I don't keep track of my cycle. Probably in a week and half or so."

"Can I be there when you take the test?"

"You want to watch me pee on a stick?" She couldn't help but tease him.

"Not watch you, but I want to be there."

"I will let you know if I decide to take a pregnancy test."

"Good. Thank You."

"Ranger, you don't have to thank me for that. I wouldn't leave you out of something that important."

He nodded and smiled.

"Can we drop the subject for like a week and half or so then?"

"Yes." He smirked. "So where are we on the wedding plans?" Ranger put the last dish in the dishwasher and turned around to lean against the counter. "Bobby emailed me mid morning and said the permit applications have been submitted and he knows someone in the county office so he's hoping to get them expedited. I told him I was willing to provide financial incentive if necessary."

"I'm going to go dress shopping with Lex over the weekend. We have the caterer right? You talked to her." Ranger nodded so she continued. "I got the DJ. The rentals are taken care of. We have 18 small round tables that will accommodate four people each, plus 110 chairs. We also have some comfortable tan chairs, I think we settled on sixteen chairs and seven short end tables. Those will be set up in the formal living room after the ceremony. You got the photographer, right?" He nodded again. "And the justice of the peace?"

"Yeah, a judge owed me a favor. So that's taken care of." Ranger smiled. "I have my suit already. Tank is the best man of course and he's got his suit."

"I got the cake, well cakes and desserts, taken care of."

"Cakes AND desserts?" Ranger looked a little worried about that.

"You'll have your own grooms cake, we'll have a small cake to cut that will feed about twenty people. Since it's Thanksgiving weekend we'll also have some individual little pies, you know apple, pumpkin, pecan, French silk, and lemon meringue." Amy smiled. "You know that dessert is my favorite part of any special dinner. I always save room for cake or pie at weddings and especially on Thanksgiving."

"So is the grooms cake really for me or is it for show?"

"That would be a surprise. I wanted to do something for you since you've been doing so much for me, and for Lexi."

Ranger had to smile. "You've been talking to Ella again, haven't you?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny any allegations to that effect."

He laughed and straightened away from the counter. "So, do you have any pressing meetings or work to get back to?"

"Your terrible!"

"What?" He feigned innocence as he took another step towards her. "I'm your boss, I'm just curious about your workload for the afternoon."

"Yeah sure. Or your horny because we haven't done anything since Monday night."

In one swift move he reached for her hands and pulled her into his chest. "I've missed you the last two nights." He nuzzled into her neck and started kissing his way up. "You didn't answer my question."

"No, I don't have anything to rush back to my desk for."

Ranger put her arms around his neck, "Put your legs around my waist." Amy did so immediately and he clamped his hands on the backs of her thighs as he carried her back to his bedroom. He not so gently tossed Amy onto his bed making her laugh. He tugged his shirt over his head and off in one swift move and was starting on his pants when his cell buzzed in his pocket. "Son of a…seriously?" He pulled it out and cursed when he saw the name on the screen. "You'd better be bleeding or dying."

Amy snickered a little at his obvious frustration.

"I'm not in my office at the minute Tank, just handle it and we'll talk when you get back." He hung up then shut his phone off before setting it on his nightstand.

"Somebody's grouchy today." Amy teased. She sat up and started unbuttoning her shirt as Ranger was undoing his pants.

"I'm not grouchy. I just don't like interruptions when I'm trying to make love to my fiancé." He stepped out of his pants and started working on Amy's khaki's. "Less talking, more getting naked." He growled out as he none-too gently pulled off her pants.

Amy couldn't help but laugh a little until he was lowering himself onto her and started kissing her neck again. Any other response was lost at the feel of his hot breath and soft lips on her skin. He always managed to make her muscles go lax and make her nearly breathless as soon as he touched her. They'd be lucky to make it back to work at all today.

A/N: I promise you all that "the big question" will be answered in the next chapter. -)


	12. Chapter 12

**I know that my story isn't garnering the same attention-reviews, favorites, follows, etc-as all of the Babe stories, but I still feel so blessed to have people actually reading my story! So Thank You everyone!**

 **I started a couple of Pinterest boards for this story that I'm keeping private. If you would like to follow them send me a message and I'll add you.**

Chapter 12

"I'll just go straight to your house so we can leave your Jeep there." Ranger said to Amy as they took the elevator down to the garage.

"I should only be about ten minutes behind you. Can you let Flynn out?" Amy had her keys in her hand when the elevator finally stopped its descent and the doors opened to the Rangeman basement parking garage.

"I can do that." He walked with her to her Jeep. "What do you need to do to get ready?"

"I'm going to change my clothes, and I think Lexi wants to change into a dress. I know we're girls but it really shouldn't take us more than ten minutes."

"There's not really any rush. The earlier we get there, the more time my mom has to interrogate you."

Amy stepped back as Ranger opened her door for her. "No, the earlier we get there, the more time your mom has to tell me embarrassing stories and show me baby pictures."

Ranger lowered his head towards hers and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I'd do more but there's cameras. I'll meet you at your house."

"See you in a bit." She got in her Jeep and Ranger closed the door for her and waited until she'd backed out of her parking spot and pulled out of the garage before getting in his Cayenne.

Twenty-five minutes later Ranger was sitting at the island in Amy's kitchen drinking a bottle of water and waiting for the girls. He could hear Amy's footsteps above him as she moved between her bathroom, bedroom, and closet. After ten minutes he heard footsteps on the stairs but they were too soft to be Amy. Lexi rounded the corner from the living room in a knee-length dress that was cream on top and dark pink on the bottom with a gold belt around her waist.

"You look really pretty Lexi," Ranger watched as her whole face turned pink and she looked down at her matching gold mary jane shoes.

"Thank You." She said bashfully. "I wanted to look nice for dinner and pink is my favorite color, mom told me I should wear something I like so I'd be more comfortable."

"Your mom is one smart lady." Ranger gave her one of his recently more frequent smiles. "Pink is a good color for you."

Lexi turned an even brighter shade of pink that closely matched her dress.

"Okay," Amy walked into the kitchen barefoot with her black wedges in one hand and a little black sweater in the other. "Let's motor." She said as she set down her shoes and stepped into them while putting her sweater on over her aqua scoop-neck t-shirt which was tucked into the black skirt she'd worn on her second date with Ranger.

Ranger stood and did nothing to hide the fact that he was checking her out as his eyes slowly roamed down her body to her shoes and back up until he was looking into her eyes. He closed the distance between them and put one hand on her waist and the other to cup the side of her face. After a much shorter kiss than either of them really wanted he pulled back and let her see the gleam in his eyes. "Later." He whispered.

Amy just smiled then turned around to Lexi, "You ready to go baby girl?"

"Yeah mom. How long is it going to take to get there?" Lexi was still blushing, she looked a little uncomfortable seeing her mom kissing him.

" A little over an hour," Ranger answered.

"Can I bring my iPad?"

"Sure sweetie, go grab it." Amy answered.

The drive to Newark was nice. Amy asked Lexi about her day, Ranger chimed in with some questions and comments of his own. Then Lexi spent about twenty-five minutes playing twenty questions, asking about Ranger's parents, their house, his sister, his daughter Julie, she was relentless as all six-year olds are. Amy shot Ranger an apologetic look after Lexi asked her fifth question about Julie and why she didn't live with Ranger. He just smiled and shrugged a shoulder as if to say it wasn't a problem.

By the time they pulled into the driveway at Carlos and Marie Manoso's house Lexi was fidgeting excitedly in her seat. Amy and Ranger were holding hands and giving each other gentle reassuring squeezes now and then. Ranger turned towards Amy and smiled, "Last chance to back out."

"Not a chance!" Amy pulled her hand from his and quickly exited the car.

Ranger took her hand in his as they walked up the sidewalk, Lexi skipped ahead of them.

"Can I ring the doorbell?" She asked as she waited for Ranger and Amy to catch up.

Ranger smiled, "Manoso's don't ring the door bell, just open the door. My mom would be offended if you rang the bell."

Lexi got the storm door opened but the other door opened before she could reach for the handle. Marie Manoso was standing just inside the door, and there was no doubt in Amy's mind that this woman was the mother of her fabulously handsome boyfriend. Carlos Manoso very clearly favored his mother if only in the face. They had the same nose, eyes, and mouth. Her dark almost black hair was faintly highlighted with grey streaks and fell to her shoulders in big waves. Her amazing brown eyes were just as captivating as her son's. She wore a simple but beautiful burgundy wrap-style dress with elbow-length sleeves.

"Ric, they're here!" She called out excitedly in her delightfully accented English.

By the time Amy and Ranger got to the door his dad Ric had joined his wife at the door, and Amy saw where Ranger got his build and stature. Ricardo Manoso stood about six foot tall and had black hair he kept in a clean short style. He was wearing a dark grey v-neck sweater with black slacks. Amy was very glad that she had decided to wear her full black skirt instead of the khaki pants she'd originally planned to wear.

"Come in, come in!" Marie stepped back and instantly pulled Ranger into a huge hug. "Carlos, I'm so happy to see you again." She was squeezing him as hard as she could which was obviously not hard enough to bother him at all. She finally released him and then grabbed both of Amy's hands, "You are a beautiful girl, how did my Carlos manage to find such a stunning woman?"

"Well, he hired me about four and a half years ago. And I'm pretty sure he hired me for my looks." Amy teased. "I think my computer programming skills were second or third on the list of positive attributes."

Marie laughed. "Oh Carlos, you've got your hands full with this one. She's a keeper!" She pulled Amy in for a hug, "We are so happy to have you for dinner my dear." She released Amy then bent down a little to address Lexi. "And you, sweet little one, are the spitting image of your mama. Do you like to play checkers?"

Lexi was clutching her mom's hand and leaning into Amy's leg but she smiled tentatively and nodded.

"Ric was just getting the board set up in the living room, he loves to play checkers. Would you like to play checkers?"

Lexi looked up at Amy, who gave her a little nod, then looked back to Marie. "Sure." She said quietly.

Ric held out a hand and Lexi tentatively reached out and put her hand in his. "I've been told that I should be a professional checkers player, but you look like you could be a really good opponent. You probably play a lot, don't you?"

"Sometimes, mom says I'm really good but I think she just lets me win."

Ric pretended to scoff and be shocked, "I doubt that she lets you win. But we'll find out soon won't we?" He winked at her then escorted her into the living room.

"Carlos, sit with your dad and make sure he doesn't cheat. Amy, do you like to cook?" Marie was already pulling Amy away before Ranger could say anything.

"I love to cook."

"Amy is an excellent cook mama," Ranger called out as his mom pulled Amy into the kitchen with her. He looked identical to his dad when he winked at her just before she turned to follow Marie.

Once they were in the kitchen, Marie handed Amy an apron before put on her own. "Have you ever cooked any kind of Cuban-style food before?"

"I haven't. But I love trying new recipes so I'm open to anything."

"Good. I'm making Arroz con Pollo, which is…"

"Chicken and rice with vegetables," Amy interrupted, noticing the surprised look on Marie's face. "I used to live in Florida, and I went to college in Miami, so I'm familiar with Cuban food I've just never made it before."

"That's great! Would you mind helping chop the vegetables?" Marie looked very pleased that Amy knew her way around a kitchen as she expertly chopped the peppers, onion, and tomato. "So what made you want to leave Miami, I'm assuming your family is still there?"

"My dad and step-mom live in Clearwater, I try to make it down there once or twice a year. I moved here after my divorce was final from Lexi's dad. I was already working at the Miami Rangeman office, but a position opened up in Trenton and I was ready for a change so I took it."

"So do you have to take Lexi to see her dad very often? I'd imagine that traveling that far for visitation would be a bit of a pain." Marie hadn't been able to get much in the way of personal information from her son, so she was going straight to the source.

"I actually have full custody of Lexi. The reason for my divorce was because my ex had a problem with alcohol. He ended up getting charged and convicted of vehicular manslaughter and is currently in the Florida State Prison. So moving wasn't really an issue."

"I see." Marie didn't sound surprised or upset by that bit of information. "Well good for you, that was really smart to get away from him-not just emotionally but physically. And it seems like you guys have been doing well here." She set aside the chicken and turned to Amy, "Do you want to move it back to Miami eventually?"

"No," Amy said without hesitation. "Moving back would be too stressful for me, to be honest. I like being here, far enough away from my ex that I won't be bothered by him whenever he's eventually released."

"Won't he be allowed visitation of some kind when he's out?"

"I hope not," Amy again was quick to reply. "I actually had his parental rights terminated as part of the plea agreement when he was sentenced. He technically can file to reinstate his rights, but not until he's out of prison and off parole."

"Forgive me if I sound negative or accusing, but do you really feel that it's in the best interests of your daughter to never know her father?"

"I suppose I would be upset if you knew the whole story. I gave you the cliff notes. But since you've asked, my ex-husband was abusive to me. After his second DUI I told him that I wouldn't stay if he started drinking again. But as soon as his probation was over he was back at it. He'd come home stumbling drunk one night, and I had avoided him by sleeping in Lexi's room. The next morning he left to go golfing with some friends, and while he was gone I packed up mine and Lexi's things and moved us out. I was on my way out the door when he got home that afternoon, and he was completely wasted. When he realized I was leaving, he grabbed me and ended up breaking my arm."

"Mama!" Ranger called out from the doorway. He walked straight to Amy as spoke in rapid-fire Spanish, she could tell that he wasn't being very nice. His arm tightened around her waist as the exchange continued, until Amy had finally had enough.

"Either speak in English or stop talking. Ranger, I don't mind your mom's questions. She wants to know about me and about Lexi, she knows we're important to you so she's just making sure your making a good decision with us. I told you before that I could hold my own, and I was doing just fine. My past with Troy is just that, it's the past. I'm not living that fear and uncertainty any more. So go back to the living room. Because after I answer all of your mom's questions, she's going to show me your baby pictures."

Marie was grinning knowingly at her son by the time Amy had finished her reprimand. She said one last thing to Ranger in Spanish that had him smiling. He leaned down and kissed Amy's cheek before getting a glass of water for Lexi and going back to the living room.

"Well my dear, I'm sorry if I was being too nosy. My son just reminded me that meeting you for the first time probably isn't when I should ask such things."

"I meant what I said, I don't mind. I'm a single mom, I understand being protective and concerned about your child. So if you want me to, I'll finish. I was just about done anyways."

"Please," Marie nodded but went back to the dinner prep.

"After he broke my arm, I kneed him in the balls and ran out of there with Lexi bawling in her car seat. He left when he realized I'd called the police on him. That's when he got into an accident, which resulted in his third DUI and the vehicular manslaughter charge. Lexi obviously doesn't remember any of that, nor would I want her to. She doesn't remember her dad, obviously, and because she was just a baby I was able to deny him visitation. Taking a baby to a prison isn't really the best way for her to get to know her dad. And I wouldn't have gone anyways because by the time he got sentenced I had seen Troy enough and said everything that needed to be said for closure. So in the end I filed for his parental rights to be taken. I won. It was about a month after the divorce was final and he'd been sentenced, that the Securities Technology Specialist job came open in Trenton. It was a promotion for me, but my degree and nearly three years working in the Miami office evidently made me a shoe-in because Ranger flew to Miami to interview me and I started at the Trenton office two weeks later."

"It takes a strong woman to stand up to a man like that, especially her husband. You should know, if you don't already, that you have set an amazing example for your daughter. Because of you she will know how to be strong and independent. Be proud of yourself for that." Marie closed the distance between her and Amy, "Can I give you a hug? We're huggers in this family and I really need to hug you right now."

Amy smiled, "I would love a hug."

After a few moments Marie released her and stepped back, "I like you, I think your good for my Carlos. He needs someone who can stand up for herself and not just go along with him, doing as he says."

That declaration caught Amy by surprise, she smiled at Marie and fought the tear that threatened to fall. "Thank You Marie, I really appreciate you saying that. It means a lot."

Amy and Marie chatted pleasantly while they cooked dinner. They had a few other sides along with the arroz con pollo. Amy was happy to cook with Ranger's mom and learn some new recipes that she could make for him again later. Once everything was cooking in the oven they had a break and Marie sat down with Amy in the living room and showed her Ranger's baby pictures.

"Come on mom, the baby pictures?"

"Carlos, you were as adorable then as you are handsome now."

He grumbled something to his dad then they stood and went out to the garage to check out his dad's classic Mustang.

"Oh this one is my favorite!" Marie put the album in Amy's lap, "This was on his third birthday, he loved wearing his howdy doody hat and carrying around his cap gun."

"In nothing but his underwear?!" Amy was laughing.

Marie smiled as she nodded, "We had a hard time keeping him in clothes in the summer, he wore his underwear and sometimes shorts but that was it. He saw all of the older neighborhood boys running around with no shirts and he wanted to be like the big boys."

"I am so glad that Lexi never went through a naked phase." Amy winked at Lexi who gave her a funny look at the mention of her name.

"So how long have you and Carlos been seeing each other?" Marie dug right in to the personal questions again now that Ranger had went out to the garage with his dad.

"Officially, about a week and a half. We've kind of been slowly moving towards dating for about three or four months now." Amy paused for a moment. "My last relationship was my ex-husband. I moved up here right after that and I just wasn't in any hurry to start dating. Once I finally got settled in Trenton I thought about dating but I never met anyone that I could see a future with or whom I thought would be a good father to my daughter."

Marie nodded, "That's understandable. Do you want more kids?"

Amy smiled, "I do, I always wanted at least two kids. I have a brother but I also have four step-siblings and a half-sister. I loved having other siblings. Lexi has been pretty vocal recently about wanting a baby sister. So I'm sure that she's hoping that'll happen soon." Amy laughed, Marie was obviously pleased to hear she wanted more kids. "I don't see that happening terribly soon but I hope in the next couple of years."

"I would have loved to have a large family, it just didn't work out that way." Marie admitted. "We had Carlos, and a few years later we had his sister Elisa. I had a miscarriage about five years after her, and that was it."

"I'm so sorry," Amy put her hand over Marie's. "I was lucky, Alexa was planned and we didn't have to try for long."

"Elisa hasn't had any troubles either. She and her husband Peter have two for now, though I expect that to change soon. Her oldest Noah is four and a half, and then Meredith will be two the day after Thanksgiving so we'll get to celebrate with them when they're home for the weekend."

Amy smiled, happy to know that Ranger's niece would be turning two the day before their wedding-even though Marie didn't yet know that. "That'll be so nice! Ranger, er Carlos, told me that Elisa and her family were coming home for Thanksgiving, I can't wait to meet them." Amy smiled and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I feel strange calling him Ranger in front of you. But since he is my boss and I've called him Ranger for years it seems strange to call him Carlos. I told him I'm going to have to come up with a nickname for him but I haven't found one yet."

"He will probably be mad that I told you this, but in high school they called him Manny because there was another Carlos in his class. He didn't always like it but it made things easier at school."

Amy smiled, "There's a nickname idea."

A timer went off in the kitchen so Marie and Amy went back to the kitchen to work on supper. The rest of the night couldn't have gone any better. Amy fell even more in love with Ranger, watching him with his parent's who he clearly adored. Ric and Marie made it pretty clear that they liked Amy and Lexi as well, since they insisted on the three of them going to Newark again for the next big family gathering for Day of the Dead-which Lexi was absolutely ecstatic about.

Once they were back in Ranger's car and headed back to Trenton, Lexi was quiet in the back seat.

"I thought that was a good evening." Amy said to Ranger.

"It was a total success, my parents love you and Lexi." Ranger took her hand firmly in his. "My dad was grilling me in the garage, asking when I was going to propose and reminding me that he and mom want more grandkids soon."

"Your mom made it seem like your sister would probably be making an announcement about that soon." Amy looked over at him and saw him smile.

"Probably. Growing up she always wanted more brothers and sisters. When she got older mom told us that it just never worked out for her and dad to have any more. I wouldn't be surprised if Elisa and Peter end up having half a dozen kids, or more."

"Having a lot of siblings is fun. When dad married Carrie I gained four step-siblings, and it really was nice to have more than just one sibling."

"So how many more kids to you think you'd want to have?"

"One or two more for sure. I guess we'd just have to see how it goes after that." Amy knew he was feeling her out. "I'll be thirty in a couple weeks so I don't exactly have a ton of time left."

"Well, we'll find out in about a week or so if we're adding to our family already, right?" Ranger winked at her as she gave him a slightly annoyed look.

Amy quickly looked over her shoulder to see that Lexi was playing her iPad and not paying any attention to them. "I thought we'd agreed to not talk about that yet."

"We don't have to talk about it. I was just asking."

"Yes, we should know in about a week. Now shush you!"

"So, can I stay over tonight?" Ranger brought Amy's hand that he had been holding in his to his mouth and kissed the back of it, moving further up her wrist and arm with each kiss.

Amy pursed her lips to one side in consideration, "I don't know,"

"Please," he said in as pathetic of a voice as he could manage.

Amy was quiet for a little bit and that's when he knew he'd won.

The entire following week was really busy. They'd been able to finalize all of the wedding plans, but tracking down all of the vendors they needed had been no easy task. Planning a Thanksgiving-themed wedding for the Saturday of Thanksgiving had proved to be a bit of a challenge but they'd pulled it off. After much deliberation Amy even let Ranger talk her into getting a dress from a bridal shop instead of just getting a dress off the rack at a department store. Everything had come together pretty perfectly.

Amy walked into Rangeman at ten after eight Friday, she hated being late. But she had overslept her alarm that morning, she couldn't remember the last time she had done that. Lexi had been in a weird mood that morning and had been slow to get dressed and ready. Then just as Amy was dropping Lexi off at school, getting there a minute before the first bell rang, she realized she'd forgotten her cell phone at home. The whole morning had been weird and she felt a little off kilter. She tried to brush it off as she walked off the elevator on the third floor to swing by the lounge for her habitual bottle of water and grabbed a banana for her morning snack later.

The door to her office was open, which wasn't really concerning since she was late. Marcy had obviously unlocked her door to leave some work for her. Sure enough there was already four files on her desk and probably half a dozen notes, probably customers who have a problem that the lower level programmers weren't able to solve. She sat down and after stowing her purse away in the credenza she started to work on returning calls as she checked her e-mail. The first customer only took five minutes. After ending the call Amy immediately returned the call of the next customer. She was in the middle of that call when her e-mail pinged indicating a new message, it was from Ranger.

From: Carlos Manoso

Subject: Is Your Watch Broken?

Date: September 23 2016 08:25

To: Amaya Kendrick

Hey Sweetheart,

I don't think you've ever been late before, everything okay this morning?

R

Amy had to smile. Of course he would've noticed that she was late, and naturally he was concerned. She quickly typed up a response as she spoke to the tech advisor for the law firm of Louis and Adams, their problem was that they hadn't correctly programmed in a code for a new employee so their system had locked down. She had to access it remotely from her computer to unlock their security, which wasn't hard it just took some time. She promised the tech advisor their system should be back up in less than thirty minutes and ended the call just as she was finishing the e-mail to Ranger.

From: Amaya Kendrick

Subject: No Watch Problems

Date: September 23 2016 08:27

To: Carlos Manoso

R

Just a bad morning. I overslept my alarm this morning, Lexi was acting like a teenager, and after I took Lex to school I realized I forgot my phone. That's why I was late.

Amy

Ranger's response was almost immediate.

From: Carlos Manoso

Subject: Can I Brighten Your Day?

Date: September 23 2016 08:28

To: Amaya Kendrick

Sweetie,

I'm sorry that you had a rough morning. Is there anything I can do to brighten your day? What if I told you that Bobby and his guys started on the house this morning? He said all of the wood in the formal living room should be stripped and ready to be stained in about two weeks.

R

She had to give him credit, he really did know how to make her smile. She sent him a quick response before going back to returning phone calls.

From: Amaya Kendrick

Subject: Consider It Brighter

Date: September 23 2016 08:30

To: Carlos Manoso

R

Any day that starts off with some playful emails from you make my day brighter. Thank You.

Are we doing our usual lunch in your apartment?

Amy

Amy waited a couple of minutes for a response, when none came she returned the next message. Since she had her back to her door she couldn't see Ranger walking slowly into her office but as always, she could sense him there.

"You keep trying that, but in four years it's never worked." She said softly after she covered the mouthpiece of her phone.

A low chuckle sounded behind her. He waited a few minutes for her to finish the phone call and turn around to her big desk before speaking. "We all have our bad days," he noticed the slight bags under her eyes and she had her hair pulled back in a kind of messy bun.

"Yeah, nothing was going right for me this morning. But I'm here. At least it's Friday."

"No offense, but you kind of look like you didn't get a very good night's sleep last night." Ranger sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

Amy took a deep breath in and blew it out her nose as she gave him a one-sided grin. "Yeah, I have no idea what the problem was last night but I couldn't get comfortable."

"Your more than welcome to go up to my apartment and take a nap if you need to." Ranger reached across her desk and held her hand in his.

"I'll be alright. We don't have any big plans for the weekend, so I'll just hope that I get to sleep-in a little tomorrow morning." Amy squeezed his hand.

"We're still on for lunch today." He said in answer to her last e-mail. "Are we still on for dinner tonight?"

"Yes. Lexi would be very disappointed if you didn't watch Aladdin with us tonight." Amy couldn't help but smile. Lexi loved Ranger, and he really seemed to enjoy spending time with Lexi as well.

"My mom called me this morning and invited us up for lunch Sunday. I wasn't sure if you guys had any plans so I told her I would call her back."

"We don't have anything going on Sunday, and I would love to have lunch with your parents. Is anyone else going to be there?"

"Sunday lunch is kind of a weekly thing, anyone in the family who isn't busy after church goes to mom and dad's for lunch. So there will definitely be other people there, but I couldn't tell you who for sure."

Amy nodded, "Sounds like a plan then." She paused for a few seconds and when he didn't say anything else she squeezed his hand again. "I hate to kick you out but I've got a few more calls to return, I have to unlock the system for Louis and Adams because their tech advisor is a moronic twelve-year old who can't program in a simple new employee code, and then I have four new customer files to go through. So I'll see you at lunch?"

Ranger smirked at her as he stood, he knew that she loved her job so her to-do list was delivered in a nearly excited tone. "Yeah, lunch. Eleven-thirty. If I don't stop by your office before then, stop by mine. I have an eleven o-clock meeting and he tends to get a little chatty."

"Sounds good." She tilted her head back as Ranger leaned down over her desk to give her a kiss.

"See you in a little bit Sweetheart." He said just before he turned and walked out.

Amy didn't eat with her usual enthusiasm at lunch, Ranger noticed but didn't say anything. Over the course of the weekend he noticed that she really seemed to be off but figured it was probably just because of stress with the house officially under construction, the wedding planning, and getting ready to move. By Tuesday morning he was starting to worry after Amy had been late to work again that day, and even Tank was concerned.

"Hey boss, everything okay with you and Amy?" Tank asked as he walked into Ranger's office a little after ten.

"Yeah we're great, why?" Ranger tilted his head ever so slightly to one side as he looked at Tank.

"I just ran into her leaving the lounge and she was eating a pickle spear and she had a doughnut on a napkin. I don't think I've ever seen her eat a doughnut, she's usually kind of a habitually healthy eater like you. Then I asked her how her morning was going and she said something about it being crappy because she'd overslept her alarm again. I teased her that she needed to stop staying up late with you and she flipped me off. I'm used to getting the finger from the guys, but she's never done it before. I apologized to her and she quickly ran to her office but I swore she looked like she was about to start crying."

Ranger stood up and was walking out of his office before Tank could even ask him what was going on. He practically ran down the hall and across the floor through the programmers cubicles to Amy's office. When he walked in she was facing away from the door, which was normal for her, but she definitely sounded like she was crying.

"Sweetheart," Ranger crooned as he quickly rounded her desk then crouched down by her chair. "What's wrong?"

Amy let out a short laugh through her tears. "I don't know. I overslept again, which drives me crazy." She accepted the tissue Ranger offered and wiped at her still flowing tears. "Thanks. I hate being late and I missed my morning workout, so that kind of threw my day off. Lexi made it off to school just fine but I was about a block from here when I realized I still had my slippers on and I'd left my phone and my workout bag at home. So I had to turn back and get it." She paused to take a breath before continuing, "I probably owe Tank an apology because I was kind of mean to him a few minutes ago in the lounge." Her tears had finally stopped.

"Yeah he told me about that, that's why I came to check on you." He rubbed both of his hands on her thighs and looked down, and had to stop himself from chuckling so he didn't upset her even more but she caught the slight shake of his shoulders.

"What's so funny?"

"You're still in your yoga pants that you wore to bed last night and your socks don't match."

Amy looked down and realized that he was totally right, she thought she'd put on black slacks but she'd never changed her pants. And her left foot had a short black sock while her right had a crew grey sock. That realization made her break down and cry again.

"Sweetheart, what's going on? Are you stressed? It would be understandable, we have a lot going on right now. Troy's crap, planning the wedding, the house construction, moving…" He still kind of wanted to laugh at her because her reactions were so unreasonable but he knew that would be a really bad thing.

"I don't know!" She practically yelled at him.

A movement at the doorway caught his attention and he looked over to see Tank in the doorway.

"Amy, you alright girl? I was just teasing you earlier, I'm sorry that I offended you."

Amy shook her head at him and tried to smile, "You didn't offend me. I honestly have no idea what's going on with me lately." She noticed Ranger suddenly start smiling. "I'm so happy to know that you find this amusing!"

"Boss man, you might not want to laugh at her when she's crying." Tank was leaning in the doorway now.

"I'm not laughing at her," he said to Tank. "Go back to your office, I'll be back in mine in a little bit."

Tank tipped his head in acknowledgement, "I'll see ya' later Ames,"

She gave him a weak smile, "Bye, thanks for checking on me Tank."

"Sweetie," Ranger said after Tank had left. "Let's go up to my apartment."

"Why are you still smiling? This isn't funny! I feel like I'm losing it. Lexi lost another tooth Sunday and I cried over that. I don't cry over shit like that."

Ranger's smile had grown, "I'm going to call Bobby and have him meet us in the apartment." He pulled her up out of her chair. "C'mon." He pulled his phone out as they started walking through the programmers 'bull pen' and toward the elevator. "Bobby, meet me in my apartment and bring your bag. No, I'm fine, just need your help with something."

"Why do we need Bobby?" Amy asked as they stepped on the elevator, Ranger still had his arm around her waist holding her to him.

"Do you remember what we did about two and a half weeks ago?" Ranger asked.

She was quiet as she thought about it.

"The night I showed you the house for the first time." He gave her a hint.

"Oh. My. God." She froze and her jaw dropped.

"Sweetie, I'm pretty sure your pregnant." Ranger was still smiling. He was ecstatic.

Amy smiled. The elevator doors opened and Ranger pulled her out with him. "Bobby will be up in a couple minutes. He can get a blood sample and run it to the lab and we can have the answer in less than an hour."

Amy sat on a stool at the island while Ranger grabbed them each a bottle of water from the fridge. "I can't believe I didn't think of that."

"Well, how did you know you were pregnant with Lexi?" Ranger passed her a water across the island and stayed on the other side to let Bobby in when he got there.

"I wasn't really having symptoms yet, I tested because we had been trying so I knew when to test. This time, I knew there was a possibility but I honestly didn't think that one time would do it when I wasn't sure about the timing."

"Are you freaking out?"

Amy's eyes shot up to Ranger's. "No!" She smiled, "I'm surprised but I'm excited. Of course I'm a little nervous and anxious, but I'm not freaking out."

"Good." A short knock on the door meant Bobby had arrived. Ranger walked over and let him in. "Bobby."

"What's up boss? What do you need?" Bobby walked into the kitchen with his med bag over one shoulder.

Ranger pointed at Amy, "Can you get a blood sample from Amy and run an HCG test?"

Bobby was in the middle of pulling on a pair of Nitrile gloves and stopped with one glove half on when he heard Ranger say HCG. He looked at Ranger and cocked his head to the side. "You want a pregnancy test?"

Ranger smiled, "Yes. We already know but we'd like a blood test to confirm it."

"So you took a home test?" Bobby asked as he walked over to Amy while he finished putting on his gloves and set his bag on the counter next to her. He pulled out everything he needed to draw blood.

Amy shook her head, "No. But my hormones have been wonky, my moods have been all over the place. And we know there was a night about two and half weeks ago when there was no goalie."

"I have urine tests in my office downstairs." Bobby looked at Amy. "We can still do the blood test but the home test will give you an answer in less than two minutes."

"Let's just go with the blood test, like Amy said we already know." Ranger looked to Amy, "Unless you want to pee on a stick for us." Ranger teased.

"I don't have any desire to share my pee with you guys, sorry Bobby."

He smiled, "I'll just take a little of your blood." He tied the tourniquet above her elbow. "You're not squeamish with needles or blood are you?" Amy shook her head. In less than a minute Bobby had a vial of blood and was wrapping some Coban around her arm to cover her elbow where he drew the blood. "Alright, I'll run this to the lab and have them fax the results over. It should only take about half an hour for them to run it. So I'll have the results in less than an hour."

"That's great," Ranger walked Bobby to the door. "Call me as soon as you have the labs back."

After the door closed Amy stood up and walked over to the couch and dropped down. Ranger sat down next to her putting one arm around her shoulders and reached the other across to grab her hand in his. "Why don't you lay down either here on the couch or back on the bed and take a nap. I'll wake you up when Bobby has the results."

"I have work to get back to, I'll just go back to my office and you can call me when Bobby has the labs back."

"No." Ranger held Amy down when she tried to get up off the couch. "I'm your boss and your fiance and I say that you can't go back to work. Lay down and rest and I'll come back up in less than an hour with the results."

Amy rolled her eyes but let Ranger lift her legs as she turned sideways on the couch. "This is what the next 8 months is going to be like, isn't it?"

"Hey, that's my baby in there. If your tired and run down, you can't really just push through it right now. You need the rest." He walked to his office and was back a minute later with a blanket. "So your going to stay up here and rest, take a nap, and I'll see you in a little bit." He draped the blanket over her before leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Amy said as she closed her eyes and settled onto the couch. She heard the apartment door open and close a few seconds later. She kept her eyes closed as she took a deep breath, she would rest on the couch for a bit then go back to her office. She was falling asleep less than two minutes later.

"Sweetheart." Ranger whispered as he gently rubbed her shoulder. He leaned down and kissed her cheek, "Amaya, nap time is over."

Amy finally cracked open one eye at him and couldn't help but smile. Waking up to Ranger with his trademark grin on his impossibly handsome face, how could she not smile when that's the first thing she see's. She stretched then sat up.

He held up a folded piece of paper. "Results are back."

Amy's eyes got wide and she clasped her hands together, "Well?"

"I was waiting to look at it with you."

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Amy clapped her hands together really quickly a few times.

Ranger unfolded the paper, roughly in the middle was a circled number and a hand-written note off to the side. "HCG is 1598, Bobby added a note that says your numbers are great. He wants us to check in with him later." He smiled at Amy, "But it's official. Look." He handed her the lab sheet. At the bottom of the paper Bobby had written in big capital letters 'YOU'RE PREGNANT! CONGRATULATIONS MOM AND DAD!'

Amy smiled and threw her arms around Ranger's neck. "Well, it looks like we're going to be a family of four around the middle of June."

"Yes we are." Ranger couldn't stop smiling. And neither could Amy.


	13. Chapter 13

Oh my Gosh, you guys are amazing! Thank You for the reviews. I've been completely humbled reading all of your comments, and some even made me tear up. It means so much to know that there are even die-hard Steph fans like my story.

If anyone wants to 'see' Ranger's big new house or what the Manoso wedding is going to be like, I have some Pinterest boards going. Send me a message.

 **Chapter 13**

"Do you need to rest some more?" Ranger pulled away from Amy and his eyes instantly went to her still flat tummy.

"I really should get back down to my office. Before you say it," Amy put a hand up to stop what was sure to be a reminder that he was her boss. "I am not the first woman who has been pregnant while working a full time job. I think I can handle sitting at my desk." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before standing. "But I will meet you back up here for lunch."

Ranger stood just in time to catch Amy as she passed out. "Amy!" He lowered her back on to the couch and pulled his cell out of his pocket. "Bobby, my apartment, now. Amy just passed out." She looked a little pale but she was breathing, not that he wasn't still freaking out. Less than two minutes later Bobby was walking in the door.

"Boss," He rushed over and knelt down next to the couch. "What happened?"

"We were just talking, she stood up and a few seconds later she passed out."

"I'm betting it's low blood sugar, do you know if she had breakfast or what she had if she did?"

Ranger just shook his head. "I didn't stay at her house last night. She usually eats breakfast but I know she overslept her alarm and was in a rush to get out the door." He stopped to think, "Oh, Tank ran into her leaving the lounge earlier and she was eating a pickle spear and had a doughnut in her hand."

"That's not really that great of a breakfast." Bobby stopped as Amy groaned and opened her eyes. "Hey Amy, you get to see me twice today. Do you remember what happened?"

"Ranger and I were talking, I know I was getting ready to go back down to my office so I stood up and I don't really remember anything after that." She was watching Ranger who looked terrified sitting on the coffee table. "What?"

"You passed out. I caught you thankfully, but what if I hadn't been here?" He rubbed both his hands over his face.

"Hey, don't do that." Amy sat up slowly with help from Bobby and put a hand on Ranger's knee, "It's not that serious." She looked to Bobby for confirmation, who just watched her carefully as he had a finger on the inside of her wrist taking her pulse.

"Well, it's probably just your blood sugar, or it could be low iron. It's not uncommon for pregnant women to feel light-headed or dizzy. Did you have any problems with anemia in your last pregnancy?" Bobby had his iPad sitting next to her on the couch and he was touching the screen and typing every two seconds it seemed.

"I was borderline anemic with Lexi, I took some iron supplements during her pregnancy but I never passed out."

"Do you have an OB already?" Bobby pulled his blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope out of his bag to get her blood pressure.

"Yeah, well my Gyno is in an OB/GYN office."

"I would call and try to get in as soon as possible just so they can check you out. I didn't have the lab check your iron, I just did the pregnancy test. But your numbers are pretty high for only being 4.5 or 5 weeks pregnant, actually that's why I put a note on the lab results telling you guys to come see me." He put the cuff on her arm and took her blood pressure. "Well your pressure is great."

Ranger and Amy both looked confused. "Is it possible to have her numbers be too high?" Ranger asked.

"Well no," Bobby paused for a minute. "Higher than normal numbers usually means multiples."

Amy looked really pale again and Ranger still looked confused.

"Multiples?" He tilted his head.

Bobby laughed, "Like twins, or maybe even more."

Ranger's jaw actually dropped.

"I don't know that for a fact, it is possible to have high numbers and it not be multiples. But you definitely should go get an ultrasound and repeat blood work done in a couple days." Bobby put all of his equipment back in his bag and stood up. "Amy, a doughnut is not a very good breakfast. You need some protein, have some yogurt with some granola and fruit. Or see if Ella will make you a protein smoothie."

Amy made a face, "No smoothies for me. But the yogurt I can do, that's a normal breakfast for me anyways."

"Did you eat before you came to work? Ranger wasn't sure." Bobby asked.

Amy looked down at her hand that was still on Ranger's knee. "No." she said quietly. "But I didn't realize it would make me pass out, I didn't know I was pregnant. I mean I should have, but I didn't."

"That's alright. Just make sure you don't skip any more meals. I would actually recommend you add a couple of snacks throughout the day. Have you been feeling okay or have you been nauseous?"

"I've been feeling a little queasy now and then at different times of the day."

"Try eating every couple hours, that should help with the morning sickness. Stick with healthy snacks-a handful of nuts and a cheese stick, some fruit, veggies, a small bowl of cottage cheese, things like that. Otherwise, like I said earlier, just get in to see your OB as soon as you can. I'm going to be studying up on pregnancy. I've delivered a few babies but I've never known much about maternity care. I get the feeling it might come in handy for me to know a little more about pregnancy. And let me know if my suspicion is right about it being multiples."

Amy blew a big breath out her nose, "I'm hoping your wrong, but we'll let you know."

Ranger finally stood, "Thank You Bobby," he shook his hand and pulled him into a one-armed hug. "I definitely appreciate you doing some research on pregnancy. Amy's done this before but I really haven't so I'll feel better knowing you know something about pregnancy. I'll probably have to go out and get some books to read."

Amy laughed, "Your going to read 'What To Expect When Your Expecting?' That's something I've got to see."

"You shut it." He pointed at Amy but couldn't stop the smile that he automatically got when Amy laughed.

"I think we're good now Bobby. I'll talk to Amy's OB myself if I have to, to make sure we can get in today."

"Sounds good boss. And again, Congrats."

"Thanks Bobby."

"Yeah," Amy smiled and waved at Bobby as he walked toward the door. "Thank You so much. I'll try not to be so high maintenance from now on."

"Sounds good."

Ranger closed the door behind Bobby then grabbed the house phone by the front door and called Ella. After ordering enough food to feed half a dozen people he returned to the living room with some orange juice for Amy and a water for himself.

"Ranger, you have yogurt in your fridge, I don't need a whole breakfast buffet just for me."

He sat down next to her and ignored her statement completely, "Do you think Bobby is right about it being twins? Or more?"

"I suppose anything is possible."

"But I don't have twins in my family at all."

"Technically, it runs on the woman's side. Guys don't have any effect on that. And my maternal Grandma had one set of twins out of ten kids. One of my Aunts also had a set of twins. Past that I'm not sure because I'm not that close to my moms family."

"Okay. Well, call your OB. Make sure they get you in today."

Amy gave him a stern look, "They might not have any openings today."

"Bullshit, they always leave some room in the schedule for possible emergent circumstances."

Amy called and was surprised when the appointment desk immediately connected her with her OB's nurse, and after a quick two-minute conversation she had Amy scheduled for an ultrasound and an appointment with her OB at eleven-thirty.

"That's perfect." Ranger said, "You can eat and then we'll head over to your doctor's office."

"You're eating too right?" Amy stood up and not surprisingly Ranger stood with her and grabbed her elbow. "Are you going to watch me pee?"

"The last time you stood up you passed out thirty seconds later. Humor me if I want to walk you to the bathroom."

Amy sighed but let him walk with her, she knew it was making him feel better.

Ella was filling the dining room table with plates of food when Amy walked out of the bedroom ten minutes later.

"I'm never going to eat all of that." Amy said as Ranger pulled out a chair for her.

He gave her a look as he sat down across from her, then looked over at Ella. "Thank You so much for the breakfast, well brunch. Amy missed breakfast and we had some work stuff to go over."

Ella nodded but her eyes hadn't left Amy since she'd sat down. Amy blushed and Ella finally looked to Ranger. Then she pointed a finger at him. "Boy," she shook her head. "What kind of fool do you think I am?"

Ranger feigned confusion really well but Amy knew that if she could tell he was lying then Ella definitely could. "What do you mean?"

"You guys haven't even been dating a month. You shouldn't be doing that yet!" She actually tsked at him. Then she looked at Amy, "Amaya dear, I have some ginger tea that can help with morning sickness. If tea isn't your thing they make ginger chews now too. My sister gets them because ginger helps with heartburn as well. You just let me know and I can get those for you to try."

Amy just smiled as she shook her head, surprised that Ella figured it out that fast. "How did you know? We barely know, in fact we only found out for sure less than an hour ago."

"I may be old, but I've been around the block a time or two. You've been off for nearly a week now." She pointed her finger at Ranger again, who had just started filling their plates with food. "And you."

"What now?" He put a hand out, palm up in the universal 'what' gesture.

"Your not that sneaky. I know you guys have been up here nearly every day for lunch."

"Oh c'mon Ella, it's not like we're errant teenagers."

"No, your not. So you should practice a little more self restraint than doing **that** on your lunch break, which is exactly what errant teenagers would do by the way."

"But she has a daughter at home, would it be better if Lexi walked in?" Ranger was now acting like a teenager. Amy was actually a little embarrassed by the direction of the conversation.

"Okay, can we not go there? Please?" Amy asked. "Ella, I promise you we're not errant teenagers. And we really weren't trying to be irresponsible. Which is why we're already engaged."

Ella's gaze instantly dropped to Amy's still bare ring finger then she looked admonishingly at Ranger. "I know you can afford a nice ring young man."

"I can. And I will get her a very nice ring. We just haven't made that announcement official yet. Evidently Amy has decided to let you in on all of our secrets in one day. I promise you will know when the engagement is official." He shot a quick look to Amy then smiled at Ella. "Now we need to eat our brunch so we can make it to an eleven-thirty appointment."

Ella nodded, but didn't move. She just kept watching Ranger. Then a tear fell down her cheek. Ranger stood and walked to her and hugged her. "I'm so happy for you boy. I wasn't sure I'd ever see the day."

"I know," he whispered. He held her a few more moments before she pulled back.

Ella wasn't done yet though, she put her hands on his cheeks and got serious again, "That woman is carrying your child. You need to worship the ground she walks on. I don't care if it's the middle of the night and she says she wants a fresh lobster roll and there's a blizzard. You get her whatever she wants. Understand?"

Ranger smiled but nodded, "I got it. Trust me, she's going to be sick of me by the time that baby comes."

Ella patted one cheek then released him. She bent over Amy and gave her a hug as well. "That boy loves you," she whispered in Amy's ear. "I knew when you started working here that you were someone special, I just had no idea how important you would be." Ella straightened, "But don't let him boss you around, he may be your boss at work but that doesn't mean he's in charge at home too." She winked at Amy then turned and left.

"You know, your mom basically said the same thing at dinner the other night." Amy took a bite of her omelet then snagged a slice of bacon, Ranger usually ate turkey bacon but Ella knew Amy only liked real bacon so she put both on the platter. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say the other women in your life are trying to warn me about you."

He gave a barely noticeable shrug of one shoulder and stayed quiet as he ate.

"They evidently don't realize that I've worked with you for almost five years now, I learned how to handle you a long time ago." She winked at him.

Ranger watched her dig in to her food and noticed that her color got better the more she ate. "You look better, the food must be helping."

Amy nodded, "I swear I won't skip breakfast again. It didn't seem like a big deal this morning, I just figured I'd overslept. I swear if I'd have known I was pregnant I wouldn't have done that."

"Amy," Ranger gabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before releasing it so she could keep eating. "I know you wouldn't have. And you won't get a chance to skip any more meals because I'm moving in with you and Lexi." He held up a hand when she about spit her food in his face in surprise. "I want to be there for you. I know that you don't need my help, but I need to help you in any way I can. So if it means making sure that you eat breakfast, cooking dinner because your exhausted or the smell of cooking makes you sick, or helping you with laundry then that's what I'll do.

"I should have known you would use this to get moved in to my house sooner." Amy tried to look mad but she couldn't quite pull it off.

"I'll use any advantage I can." He admitted.

"Can we wait until the weekend for you to 'officially' move in so we can just use this week to get Lexi used to you being at the house?"

"All I need is clothes. I will be staying with you every night. No buts." He gave her his stern and serious face.

Amy groaned but admitted her defeat. "Fine."

"Good." Ranger took his plate to the sink then started clearing off the rest of the table. Ella really had made too much food for just two people. "Do you want any more food?"

Amy shook her head since her mouth was full. After taking a sip of orange juice she stood as well. "I can't eat everything I've got as it is." She picked up her plate and carried it to the kitchen. Ranger looked at her plate, gave her a somewhat disapproving look, then took the plate out of her hands.

As her scraped off the food and rinsed the plate to put in the dishwasher Amy went to the bathroom for what seemed like the tenth time that morning and was met by Ranger as she walked into his bedroom. "Hey there sweetie, you ready to go?"

"Yes." She smiled as Ranger put his hands on her waist and pulled her against his chest. "I just hope I can make it all the way to the doctor's office before I need to pee again."

Ranger kissed her forehead then took her hand in his as they walked through the apartment and out to the elevator. "From what I do know about pregnancy I don't think that's going to get any better."

"I know. It won't. I might have to request an office closer to a bathroom." She teased.

"You can have Tank's, his is right next to a bathroom." Ranger pulled her in the elevator and pushed the button for the garage.

"I'm not taking Tank's office." The elevator stopped on level three, Tank and Lester got on.

Tank and Ranger looked at each other, each slightly tipping their heads at each other in some sort of silent communication.

"Where are you two love birds off to?" Lester wasn't the quiet type.

"A lunch meeting with a potential client." Ranger answered without hesitation.

Amy was glad Ranger had answered because she hadn't even thought about what they would tell people.

"I should be back to the office by 1:30 or so," Ranger said to Tank. "But if I'm not can you take my two o'clock meeting?"

Tank was watching Ranger and Amy closely and only hesitated a second before answering but it was long enough for Ranger to know and Amy to suspect that Tank knew there was something else going on. "Sure thing boss." He smiled at Amy as they all walked off of the elevator at the same time.

The drive across town to Amy's OB was less than fun as it was eleven o'clock, so everyone was trying to get somewhere all at once.

"If you don't mind, I would kind of like to wait to tell anyone that we're pregnant. At least until after the wedding." Amy squeezed Ranger's hand. "I don't want people to be saying it's a shotgun wedding."

Ranger brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it lightly, "I would hope that no one would have the balls to say that to me or even around me. But if that's what you'd like, that's fine with me." He stopped at a red light and looked over at Amy who was absently rubbing her still flat belly with her free hand. "When are the wedding invites going out?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about that." She looked over at Ranger who gave her a quick concerned look before going back to the road just as the light turned green. "Oh it's nothing bad. I was just wondering how you would feel about the wedding being a surprise? We'll send out invites for a formal Thanksgiving dinner to show off the new house. They'll all show up to a nicely decorated house for drinks and appetizers. I'll wear a nice dress and you'll leave the tie and jacket to your suit in the office. We'll have the door to the garage locked so no one can go out there because that's where we'll hide all of the wedding decorations-like the sign for the guest book table, the guest book table, the grooms cake, and whatnot. Once everyone has arrived I'll sneak off to our room with Lexi to change into my wedding dress and you can put on your suit jacket and tie. If you can get everyone to the formal living room and have them face the front door I can make my grand entrance behind them and we can shock them all."

"You've really put some thought into this, haven't you?" Ranger didn't think it was a half bad idea.

"Yes." Amy nodded. "We can do a surprise wedding on Thanksgiving weekend then we'll send out Christmas cards that will be our pregnancy announcement and Thank You cards all in one."

"So basically in the span of a couple of weeks we'll surprise everyone with us getting married and having a baby."

"Or babies." She reminded him.

"Or babies." He corrected. "You know, a surprise wedding sounds kind of perfect. We already have the details taken care of. I don't think people would be all that suspicious of us having a big formal dinner Thanksgiving weekend. Plus, seeing the look of shock on everyone's faces when they realize they're actually at our house for a wedding will be great. I'm in, let's do it." He smiled at her.

Amy was thinking about how much more fun Thanksgiving was going to be this year as they pulled into the parking lot of the doctor's office. After checking-in, they sat down while Amy filled out some paperwork. Less than fifteen minutes later a nurse called Amy's name and they were escorted back to an exam room. The nurse took her blood pressure, asked her some questions-most of which she'd just answered on the paperwork she'd filled out.

"So, you wrote on the paperwork that you had labs done already today?"

"Yes." Amy grabbed the lab results-the ones that Bobby hadn't written on-out of her purse and handed them over. "We have an in-house medic and a contract with this lab. I am more than okay with doing another blood test though if you guys want me to."

"I'll double check with Dr. Sayre, but I know we've contracted with this lab before so I don't think she'll want you to do another blood draw today." The nurse-Abby-stood and went to the door. "She'll be in in just a few minutes."

Less than a minute later there was a light knock at the door before it opened. "Hi Amy," she shut the door behind her and put a hand out to shake Amy's hand, then Ranger's. "And you must be dad."

He nodded, "Carlos Manoso."

"Nice to meet you Carlos. Well, Abby gave me your lab results and I must say, for not quite five weeks your numbers are impressive. Do twins run on your mom's side of the family Amy?"

"Yeah, kind of. I don't know if they're identical or fraternal but there's a couple sets."

Dr. Sayre nodded, "I'm going to have you guys move down the hall to the ultrasound room. I highly doubt we'll see anything today because it is extremely early to see a baby, or babies. But we can check on some other things. So go ahead and follow me."

They all filed out the door and down the hallway. Amy expected the doctor to leave but she actually stayed for the ultrasound. Ranger's eyes got a little wide as the doctor explained that it was too early for an abdominal ultrasound to see much so they would be doing a transvaginal ultrasound. He looked away when the nurse put the wand under the sheet covering Amy's legs.

After a minute the doctor told them to look at the screen. She pointed out the uterus and ovaries, and noted that the lining of Amy's uterus was really thick, which was a good sign. Just when she was about to give up on finding anything she had the tech stop and she took over the ultrasound. "There. Look right there guys." She pushed some buttons and zoomed in a little on what looked like a bubble. After changing a few settings they could just barely see something in the bubble. "That, believe it or not, is your baby. It is so tiny right now, but that tiny little blob is the baby and the bubble around it is the amniotic sac."

"So there's just one?" Ranger asked.

"Well, that I'm still not entirely sure of." The doctor moved the wand around slowly and carefully, trying to look around at as much of Amy's uterus as she could. "I wouldn't normally be looking for a twin at this point but the numbers definitely seem to be pointing in that direction. There's another questionable spot here." She pointed to the screen. "But it's a little smaller than the other so I can't really tell if there's anything in that or not." She removed the wand and put a hand on Amy's arm, "You are definitely pregnant, and there's one baby for sure. I want to do repeat labs in two days, so come back in on Thursday. I just want to see what your numbers are doing. If they still seem to indicate that there's more than one baby, we'll do an ultrasound on October seventh."

"Why not before then?" Ranger asked.

"If we wait until six weeks, it's a lot more likely that we'll be able to actually see if there's babies and hear heartbeats." Doctor Sayre pushed the machine away and helped Amy sit up.

"So you think there's more than one?" Amy asked.

"In my experience, HCG numbers as high as yours are at 4.5 weeks means there's definitely more than one baby."

Amy nodded.

"Any special instructions or restrictions?" Of course Ranger would ask that.

Dr. Sayre chuckled, "No, everything seems to be going great. You already know why you passed out and what to do to avoid that happening again."

"Thank You so much, Dr. Sayre, for getting us in today on such short notice."

"Not a problem! Fainting isn't usually a huge concern but when your pregnant we don't take that sort of thing lightly. If you continue to have any problems, call the office right away. We'll check your iron levels when you come back on Thursday. After that I might have you start taking an iron supplement. Are you taking a prenatal?"

"Not yet, I take a daily multivitamin but I'm pretty sure we'll be stopping on the way home for a prenatal vitamin." She slightly tilted her head towards Ranger but didn't look at him.

Dr. Sayre chuckled and patted her knee. "You're in good hands with that one Amy." She stood and went to the door. "I'll see you in a couple days." And she was gone.

They stopped at the front desk and made her appointment for Thursday for labs and then another appointment for the seventh for another ultrasound. Once they were back in the car Amy and Ranger just sat there.

"Your mom is going to freak out when we tell her." Amy said to Ranger.

He nodded, "We have to tell her in person, before we send out the cards."

"Okay," she looked over at him. "Any particular reason?"

Ranger smiled as he watched Amy absently rubbing her belly, again. "I don't think my mom really expected me to settle down. This is something I want to tell her in person and watch her reaction. I kind of think that if she finds out from a Christmas card she would be mad at me."

"You're probably right." Amy admitted. "So we'll tell her in person, but not until after the wedding. People wait until after twelve weeks usually, and I'll be about eleven weeks at the wedding."

"If it's twins you'll probably be showing by then." Ranger teased.

Amy groaned, "I hope not. But they do say that you start showing sooner with subsequent pregnancies, so you might be right."

Ranger started the car and headed back out onto the road. "Are you ready for lunch?"

Amy laughed. "After the huge breakfast buffet you made Ella prepare for us, I'm really not hungry yet. We can do a late lunch back at the office."

"Nope." Ranger turned onto another road but never looked over to see Amy's confused expression. "You're going home. I'm giving you the rest of the day off. And because I know you'd fight me on it and try to drive yourself back to work, I'm dropping you off and I'll have one of the guys drive your car back when I'm done working tonight."

"I'll remind you again, I'm not the first working mother to get pregnant. I can't take the day off of work just because I'm tired." Amy was trying really hard not to get mad and yell at Ranger, he was basically a first timer when it came to pregnancy and he is so excited. "I sit at a desk most of the day, and I left behind a lot of mundane paperwork to do. That's not going to be too taxing or strenuous."

"I know it's not. But you didn't sleep well last night, you passed out this morning, and I would feel a little better knowing that you're home resting."

Amy rolled her eyes and silently prayed for patience. "I'm a single mom, WAS a single mom" she quickly corrected when Ranger threw her a glare and was clearly ready to reprimand her about her relationship status. "I WAS a single mom, past-tense, don't get your panties in a wad. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that rest isn't something that I'm all that good at. I know that it's different now, because I have you. Trust me when I say that it feels amazing now to know that I have you in our lives. But if you drop me off at home alone with no vehicle I'm just going to end up doing laundry, cleaning, dusting, basically anything to keep myself busy."

This time the glare Ranger gave her was actually kind of scary, "You need the rest." He looked back to the road. "So if you can't be left alone to rest, I'll just have to take the afternoon off with you."

Amy tried to be mad, but an entire afternoon and evening to spend with Carlos sounded too good to pass up or be mad about. She crossed her arms and sat back in her seat, "Fine." She let out a quick huff and looked out her window. "You'll get bored."

He smirked, "I think I can manage." He made a quick call to Tank to let him know he'd be out of the office the rest of the afternoon and was finishing up the call just as he turned onto Amy's street. "So what are we going to do with ourselves for the next few hours before Lexi will get home from school?"

"I don't know about you, but I have some laundry to do." Amy teased.

"Nap time it is." He quipped as they pulled into the driveway.

Amy rolled her eyes and he just smiled.


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm sorry, I know I'm not sticking to my weekly update schedule. I'm trying!**

 **The reviews have been amazing! Thank you SOOO much for my faithful followers. I'm so glad you all are enjoying the story.**

Chapter 14

On Thursday morning Amy managed to get up with enough time to fit in a short workout and was showered and dressed when Lexi came downstairs.

"Morning baby girl, did you sleep good?" Amy asked her.

Lexi climbed onto a stool at the island in the kitchen and nodded as she rubbed her eyes. She had gotten herself dressed in a three-quarter sleeve purple tunic with black leggings. "Mom?"

"What baby?" Amy put a bowl of oatmeal in the microwave and turned to face Lexi.

"Did Carlos stay the night last night?"

Amy hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "Yeah baby, he did." She could tell that Lexi was thinking. "Does that bother you?"

Lexi tilted her head to one side, "No. I like him. Is he going to stay with us again tonight?"

Amy walked over to the island and rested down on her forearms. "Carlos is probably going to be staying with us almost every night." Amy paused to watch Lexi's reaction and to figure out just how much information she wanted to tell her. "He bought a big house in Princeton, and he's asked us to move up there with him when it's ready in about two months. Would you be okay with that?"

"So is he going to be my dad?"

The microwave beeped, so Amy turned to grab Lexi's breakfast out to cool down a bit. "Would you like it if he was your dad?"

Lexi smiled and nodded, "Carlos seems like he would be a good dad."

Amy couldn't help but smile back at Lexi. "I think he'll be a great dad." Amy turned to grab the cooling bowl of oatmeal, "Do you want some strawberries in your oatmeal?"

"And bananas?"

"Sure thing baby girl."

"Good morning ladies!" Ranger walked in the door from the garage dripping sweat from his morning run. "How are my girls this morning?"

Lexi looked a little bashful as Amy put her bowl of oatmeal in front of her. She didn't answer.

"We're great!" Amy held up her cup of hot tea, "I'm drinking my tea and getting ready to make some toast. What can I make you for breakfast?"

"I'll get my own breakfast after I shower, you just sit down and relax with yours." He dropped a quick kiss on Amy's cheek and winked at Lexi before heading upstairs.

"So what do you want me to do with your hair today?" Amy asked as she spread peanut butter on her toast.

"Can you just do a half French braid?"

"Yeah, right after I eat my toast." Amy knew that the two protein balls she'd eaten before she worked out that morning would only hold her over for so long.

Ranger was back in the kitchen less than ten minutes later dressed in his traditional black tactical cargo pants, black Rangeman t-shirt, and black socks. After quickly fixing himself a toasted English muffin and grabbing plain yogurt and banana he sat down next to Lexi to eat as Amy braided her hair.

"So Lex, have you thought about what you want to dress up as for Halloween?" Ranger asked her.

Amy had a sudden slight moment of panic because she had completely forgotten about Halloween coming up in a month, with everything else going on it had just completely slipped her mind.

"Well," Lexi started, "I kind of want to be Elsa from the movie Frozen but a lot of the girls in my class have already picked that, and I don't want to be dressed like everyone else. I kind of like Ariel but I don't know if they make those costumes."

"We can go look this weekend baby." Amy quickly reassured her. "We'll want to make sure we can find what you want in your size before it gets too late to order it if we need to. Or we can make it. We'll figure it out." She promised as she finished Lexi's braid. "Okay girlie, let's get you to school."

"I'll drive." Ranger said as he stood up to put his plate in the dishwasher.

Amy couldn't help but smile at him as he walked by her to the mudroom between the kitchen and the garage where he put on his black boots. This was their new normal routine, and she couldn't love it more.

At lunch Ranger took Amy back over to the OB's office for the repeat bloodwork. The lab tech promised she would call later that afternoon with the results and they would see her in a week for her ultrasound.

"What do you want for lunch?" Ranger asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"You basically force-fed me a banana and a cup of almonds about an hour ago. I'm not hungry right now Carlos. I love you, I really do," she threw him a look of annoyance before looking back out her window. "But I'm trying really hard not to slap you right now. I'd challenge you to a round in the ring but I know you'll never let me within a mile of the boxing ring right now. So slapping is all I've got." She sighed when he reached over and held her hand.

Ranger knew she was serious when she used his actual name, "I'm sorry Ames, I love you too. I know I'm being crazy and overprotective. Just cut me some slack here, this is all new for me." He gave her a somewhat sheepish smile, Amy could tell he wasn't used to feeling this way.

"I know. Honestly, that's the only thing that's saving you right now. But I would really appreciate it if you would maybe try to tone it down just a notch or two. You can ask me or remind me to eat, ask me if I've taken my vitamins, ask me if I need any water, but stop forcing it all on me. I'll be thirty in a little over a week, I think I can handle the basics of survival, like feeding myself and drinking enough fluids." Amy gave him a lop-sided smile and hoped that her hormones weren't overwhelming them both already.

"I know, I'm sorry." He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it. "Speaking of your birthday, my mom wants us to go up to their place next Saturday to make you a special birthday dinner. I told her we didn't have any plans yet, I hope you don't mind spending it with them."

"No, not at all. I'd love to spend my birthday with your parents." Amy took a deep breath and decided to just let go of her frustration, Ranger really can't help but be overprotective, it's in his nature. "Who else is going to be there?"

"Knowing my mom I'm sure that most of the Manoso relatives in the tri-state area will be there. It'll be a good time." He reassures her, even though she's met over half of the Manoso's at the last dinner she went to. "She wants to know what your favorite foods are, I told her that I knew you liked Italian but I didn't give her any specific dishes. I wasn't sure if you were having any pregnancy cravings yet. I didn't tell her that part!" he added when her eyes got a little big.

"Your mom could make anything she wants to and I'd eat it." Amy admitted it, Ranger smiled at her. "If she wants to make some Italian food, I wouldn't tell her No. I don't want her to think she has to cook any special dishes for me though. And for the record, I haven't noticed any pregnancy cravings yet. Maybe that'll come in the second trimester. Right now I'm starting to battle the nausea more."

"You didn't seem that bad this morning."

"It's not just the mornings. I walked in to the lounge yesterday and one of the guys had warmed up a burrito or something and I had to very quickly walk back out. I didn't throw up, but it was close. And thankfully no one saw me practically sprinting out of there."

"Hopefully you can make it until after the wedding without us needing to make excuses for any weird behaviors or hormonal changes you might have." Ranger squeezed her hand. They were about five minutes from Rangeman. "Are you sure you don't want me to pick you up anything for later before we get back?"

"No," Amy smiled at him. "Ella promised me she would keep your fridge upstairs stocked with my favorite lunches. She's offered to basically be my short-order cook for the rest of the pregnancy but I told her that it wasn't necessary."

"I need to give her a raise." Ranger said on a laugh, although he was actually kind of serious.

Sitting at her desk, Amy glanced at the clock on her computer when her cell phone rang. It had been a couple hours since her bloodwork, so it was probably the lab, the look on her caller ID confirmed that. Always the multi-tasking busy body she shot a quick email to Ranger as she slid her finger over the screen of her phone to answer the call.

"This is Amy," she said as if she were answering her office phone.

"Hi Amy! This is Trish with the lab. I just wanted to call you to let you know that your HCG numbers are excellent, today they are 3629. Your HCG should at least double every 48 hours so yours definitely meets that. Your iron is pretty low though so Dr. Sayre wants you to start taking an iron supplement in addition to your prenatal. You can call her nurse if you have any questions."

"Thank You!" Amy was all smiles as she ended the call and Ranger walked in.

"Well?" he asked as he sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk. Finding a stray paper clip he picked it up and started bending it.

"3629 today, so it more than doubled which is a really good sign."

Ranger smiled. "Is it bad that I really just want to carry you upstairs right now and spend the afternoon in bed with you?"

Amy flushed and playfully slapped at his hands. "Work, Mr. Manoso." She teased. "Lex is staying at a friend's house Saturday night, so we'll get to have lots of alone time then." Amy reminded him.

"I almost forgot, now I can't wait for Saturday night." he sat back in the chair. "And speaking of forgetting things…John called me yesterday." He said referring to his lawyer.

"And?"

"He needs official copies of yours and Lexi's birth certificates and your social security numbers. He reminded me we need to get Lexi in with a therapist, I told him we have an appointment with a family therapist next week since that was the soonest we could get in. I also told John that we just found out that you're pregnant, but that we aren't actually telling anyone yet. He said that will make the possibility of a trial a bit more complicated, since it could possibly be months before a trial would take place so you most likely won't be able to travel to Florida for that."

"He's not putting the pregnancy into any of the paperwork is he?" Amy got a little freaked out about that.

"No Sweetie, he's not. As of right now, there isn't any reason for him to do so. I told him that I would let him know once we've made that announcement official. But he needs to know that your pregnant, as the stress of this whole thing on you has the potential to affect the pregnancy as well." Ranger grabbed both of her hands in his reassuringly.

Amy nodded, "I just really don't want anyone knowing yet, especially Troy." Amy sighed, "So now Bobby, Ella, and John know that we're pregnant."

"And John's assistant because she was in his office, and he's probably told your lawyer too."

Amy's shoulder's dropped. "Now I feel bad that so many other people know but Lexi doesn't, and your parents don't, and my dad and Carrie don't."

"We can tell them whenever you want. My mom of all people will understand you wanting to wait a little while before telling everyone. So she won't be upset or offended that we didn't tell them right away."

"Lexi can't keep a secret to save her life," Amy quipped making Ranger chuckle. "I'm still not quite ready to tell people yet though. We'll probably be at your parents every Sunday for lunch from now on, won't we?"

Ranger nodded, "Unless something else comes up, I think my mom will expect us to be there."

"Okay," Amy paused, "So maybe after we get past the 8 or 9 week mark we'll tell your parents. We'll just tell them that we aren't telling anyone yet. Do you think they could keep it a secret for a few weeks?"

"I think they could manage to keep that secret for a little while." Ranger agreed.

"So we have a lot going on next week. I have girls night with Lex on Wednesday, the family therapist on Thursday afternoon, Lex has ballet class Thursday night, and my doctor's appointment Friday. We are quickly turning into very busy people."

"I know your going to refuse, but as your boss, fiance, and the father of the babies you've got growing in there," he pointed to her stomach, "I have to tell you that if you need to take some time off it's not a problem."

"If you tell me that one more time, I'm going to spray bleach on all of your clothes." Considering ninety-nine percent of Ranger's wardrobe was black, that would be a problem.

Ranger just laughed. "Okay Sweetie, I'm sorry. I just want to make sure that you know that work comes last. If something needs to be changed or dropped, let me know and we can lighten your load at Rangeman."

"Your sweet, I really appreciate that. But we're still fine. Jeeze, do we need to add on a padded room for you at the new house?" Amy rolled her eyes.

"Maybe a bubble for you for the rest of the pregnancy." Ranger teased back with a smirk and a wink.

The next week flew by all too quickly and before she knew it, Amy was sitting in the waiting room of the family therapist for their initial interview/session. Dr. Shannon Ross specialized in helping families who had been split up because one parents was an addict and/or criminal. After talking with Amy and getting all of the paperwork from her lawyers, Dr. Ross sat down with Lexi. Amy was given the option of sitting in on the session but after talking it over with Dr. Ross and Ranger they decided that allowing Lexi to talk without Amy present would show that Amy isn't afraid of anything Lexi might say or do. Amy didn't have anything to hide and she wanted that established from the beginning.

Amy sat in the waiting room with Ranger, waiting very impatiently.

"Stop." Ranger put a comforting hand on Amy's shaking knee.

"I can't. I know there isn't anything that she could possibly say. But my baby is in that room without me, being asked questions about a man that she doesn't even know." Amy just couldn't seem to stop making some kind of nervous movement. Since Ranger had his hand on her knee she started popping her knuckles.

Ranger moved his hand from her knee to her hands. "Sweetheart, you just said exactly why you shouldn't be worried. Lexi doesn't know Troy. Do you walk around the house talking bad about him?"

Amy knew what he was doing, "No, I don't."

"So all that the doctor is going to find out is that Lexi doesn't know anything about her dad, I don't know that it'll immensely help your case but it certainly won't hurt it. She does know he exists, so it's not like you've kept anything from her."

"I've never really talked about Troy at all. The few times she's asked me about him, I've just told her that she can't see him because he got into really big trouble and hurt some people and the police took him away so he couldn't hurt anyone else."

"That can only help you. You've been honest with her, telling her as much as she can handle at this age." Ranger squeezed her hands. "Sweetie, please try to relax. If not for Lexi or yourself, do it for me because all of your nervous energy is making my nerves go crazy."

Amy chuckled at that, Ranger was known for his epic sense of calm. "You're never nervous."

"This whole thing makes me nervous, and your shaking and knuckle cracking is making me want to jiggle my leg." Ranger was kind of teasing her to try to help calm her down, but truth be told he was a little nervous for all of them.

Twenty minutes after Amy had left Lexi in Dr. Ross's office the doctor's assistant called them back. Once they were seated once again in Dr. Ross's office, reunited with Lexi who looked no different than when they'd left her twenty minutes earlier, Amy finally started to calm down.

"Well," Dr. Ross twined her fingers together in front of her on her desk. "Miss Lexi and I had a wonderful conversation. I want you to know that I can clearly tell that Lexi has been provided with a very loving and caring home. She seems to be a typical six-year old and definitely has a love of dance and playing with her friends." Dr. Ross smiled as she talked. "My initial report for the lawyers will be that she is an average kid. We spoke briefly about her dad. It seems to me that given the situation and how young she was Troy was put in prison, I wouldn't expect things to be much different. She doesn't know that much about Troy, good, bad or otherwise. She knows who he is, but she also knows why she can't see him. I've got to say , I'm extremely impressed with how you've handled this situation. A parent in your position could have easily been telling your child a lot of not so nice things, true or not, but you didn't. I'll be honest, my initial thoughts were that you must have talked with her and told her exactly what to say. But six-year olds aren't that good at lying, they usually end up faltering. Lexi gave me different versions of the same answer every time I asked the question in a different way."

Amy's knee finally stopped bouncing. "I feel bad, because I don't talk about Troy." Lexi squeezed Amy's hand. "That part of my life was so hard for me. The reason why I left Miami was to try to put all of that behind me."

"Please Ms. Kendrick."

"You can call me Amy."

Dr. Ross smiled, "Amy, with all due respect, you've done well. I would like to meet with Lexi again next week. Before you start to panic, the only reason I would like to keep seeing her is because this legal battle is about Lexi. I just want to keep chatting with her to see how it's all affecting her. And as things progress, I may bring you and Carlos in more as well. I want you guys to know that you are absolutely allowed to dislike this situation. I only ask that you continue as you've been doing. Explain things clearly so that Lexi understands, and keep things neutral."

Amy nodded, "We can handle that. Thank You so much Dr. Ross."

"My pleasure, truly. Lexi is a very sweet girl, you've done a great job with her. Make an appointment with my assistant before you leave. I'll see you all next week."

"Now we kind of need to rush across town to get Lexi to her ballet class." Amy said as Ranger backed out of his parking spot.

"She won't be late, I promise." Ranger said as he gunned the engine and barely made it through a yellow light. He winked at her as Lexi giggled in the back seat. "Lex, we're going to go grab some supper while your at dance class, what would you like tonight?"

"Chinese!" Lexi cheered.

Amy chuckled, "I could've told you that," she whispered.

"Chinese it is then."

"I usually stay and watch her dance." Amy said to Ranger.

"I can grab the food then." Ranger offered.

"Mom," Lexi groaned. "You don't have to stay. No one else's moms stay. It's just practice."

Ranger gave Lexi a quick glance and a wink in the rearview mirror. "Look's like your with me sweetheart."

An hour later they were leaving the dance studio with Lexi the ballerina and Chinese takeout for supper. Amy just kept looking over at Ranger and smiling, she couldn't quit smiling. She had honestly never dreamed that she would ever find a guy who would fit so seamlessly into the life and routine that she and Lexi had established over the last five years.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ranger asked her a few blocks from the house.

"Oh I think it's a bit more than a penny, don't forget about inflation." Amy teased.

"Any time I'm trying to get information out of you, I feel like I'm pulling teeth."

"I'm just happy." Amy shrugged her shoulders slightly. "When I left Florida I just hoped to be able to give Lexi a stable home. I never imagined that I would ever find someone who would care so much about me and Lexi."

Ranger reached over and grabbed Amy's hand, bringing it up to his mouth and kissing the back of it. "Amy, I love you and Lexi so much. I never realized what I was missing out on by not having my own family. I've always filled my time with work. But having you and Lex to come home to the last week and a half has been so amazing."

Amy knew if she cried that Lex would know something was up, so she just kept her smile in place and nodded her head once at Ranger.

"Well ladies," Ranger said as he pulled in the driveway and pushed the button on the visor to open the garage door. "Home sweet home. Let's go in and eat our dinner before it gets cold."

Lexi practically sprinted into the house leaving Ranger and Amy still sitting in the car.

"I love you Carlos, you are everything I ever could have hoped and wished for."

"I love you to Amaya, but you are more than anything I ever could have hoped or wished for. Thanksgiving can't get here soon enough, I am so excited for us to be a family. And I never thought I would ever say that or feel this way, but I do. I just love you so damn much." He leaned over the center console and pulled Amy to him in a quick but firm kiss.

Amy pulled back after a few seconds, "We really should get in the house before Lexi comes back out here looking for us."

Ranger nodded, "I've got the food."

"So Lexi," Ranger smiled as Lexi enthusiastically ate her sesame chicken and fried rice. "What would you think about your mom and I getting married?"

Amy's fork stopped halfway to her mouth and her jaw dropped. She looked from Ranger to Lexi, waiting to see what her reaction would be.

Lexi tilted her head to one side and was quiet for just a few seconds before speaking. "So would you be my dad then?"

Ranger's face went from curious to his signature smirk, "I would like to be your dad. Would you like that?"

Lexi smiled as she nodded her head, "I think it would be cool to finally have a dad. Plus your nice."

Ranger gave her a smile before looking at Amy, "What do you think sweetheart?"

Amy still couldn't seem to talk. Her jaw was still hanging open, she was blinking furiously, and all of a sudden she wasn't so sure she could breath. "Wh…wh…I mean," she stopped to take a deep breath and try to get her brain to form an actual sentence. "Are you serious? You're proposing, now?"

"Well, I'm not actually proposing…yet. But I did want to see what Lexi's opinion was before I do." He winked at Lexi and turned back to Amy, who was now scowling at him. "What?"

Amy shook her head at him, "That's cheating."

"How?"

"I thought you were proposing, like for real. Do you even have a ring yet?"

Ranger lifted a shoulder and took a bite of his green bean chicken, "Maybe, maybe not."

"Are you getting married?" Lexi asked her mom.

"I don't know yet baby, we might be."

"Does that mean I'll get to go shopping for a new dress?"

Ranger actually laughed at that, "Yes Lexi, you'll get to shop for a new dress. I get the feeling you and your mom are going to have no problems filling up the new house."

Lexi smiled proudly and nodded, while Amy was still scowling.

Ranger leaned over to whisper to Amy, "Careful, if you keep making that face it'll stay that way."

She couldn't quite stop the smile from forming, "Shush you." She teased before taking another bite of low mein.

"You can shush me all you want, later in our room," he whispered before straightening and returning to his dinner.

"So tomorrow," Ranger said as he lightly skimmed his fingers over Amy's stomach.

Amy looked down and watched his hand as they were lying in bed. She had quickly gotten used to going to bed next to a certain smoking hot Cuban every night, the sex definitely helped.

"Tomorrow." Amy smiled.

"Do you think there's more than two?"

"I don't know. I still haven't quite gotten over the shock of finding out that I'm pregnant. I have no feelings or hormonal intuitions about how many or what genders it/they may be." Amy took a deep breath and closed her eyes as Ranger started rubbing her stomach.

"I kind of want it to be twins, a boy and a girl. But I feel like no matter what I think it is, I'll end up being wrong." Ranger leaned down and kissed her stomach just below her belly button. "I'll take whatever is in there. I'm just happy to be starting our family."

Amy nodded but couldn't bring herself to open her eyes. Pregnancy hormones combined with the stress and anxiety leading up to their first meeting with the family therapist had her feeling a little more tired than usual.

"Are you falling asleep on me?" He asked quietly.

"Mmmhmm," Amy mumbled as she nodded her head once.

Ranger chuckled and crawled up to his spot next to her before pulling the sheet and quilt up over both of them, tucking Amy in. He pulled her toward him, gently turning her so that she was on her side facing away from her so they could spoon. He wrapped his top arm around her waist with his hand resting on her stomach and nuzzled into her neck. She sighed and was out like a light.

"I can't wait to see our babies tomorrow." He whispered in her ear just before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

Ranger was surprised to find Amy awake and in the shower when he got back from his early morning run at six-thirty Friday morning. He quickly stripped and quietly walked in behind her. He was just about to put his hands on her hips when Amy smirked at him over her shoulder.

"Did you have a good run?" Amy asked as she turned around rinsed the conditioner out of her hair.

"It was great. Early fall mornings are my favorite running conditions." Ranger waited until Amy tried to step around him before wrapping his arms around her waist. "Where do you think your going?" He growled as he started kissing her neck.

"We don't have a lot of time before Lexi will be up." Amy suddenly groaned as one hand trailed down her stomach to the apex of her thighs and the other found her breast.

"We have just enough time." He whispered as he pushed her against the tiled shower wall. Ranger grabbed one of her legs and Amy brought the other leg up to wrap them around his waist. He wasted no time positioning himself at her entrance, waiting only a moment before thrusting up and pulling her down at the same time.

"Oh my…" Amy gasped before Ranger crushed his mouth against hers.

He kept a quick pace, bringing them both to climax in a few minutes. He kept Amy pressed against the wall, still inside of her, as they both tried to slow their breathing. After another couple of minutes Amy finally let her legs fall to the floor and she pushed him back.

"I'd better get out of here before Lexi comes looking for me. What do you want for breakfast?"

"Don't worry about it sweetie, I'll get it myself. You worry about feeding those babies." He went back to showering as Amy wrapped herself in a towel.

Amy was just heading into the closet attached to her bathroom when she heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"Mom." Lexi's muffled little voice came through the door.

"I'll be down in a little bit baby. Turn on your cartoons, I should be done in about twenty minutes."

"Okay."

"There's no way you'll be done in twenty minutes." Ranger said as he stepped out of the shower.

"How the fuck did you shower so damn fast?" Amy wrapped a towel around her hair and continued on her way to the closet.

"I'm a guy. I don't shave my legs, I can wash and rinse my hair in less than a minute, and washing my body takes about two minutes. So that's about a three minute shower, give or take." He followed right behind her and started getting dressed before she'd even picked her outfit.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Guys have it so much easier." She grumbled. None the less she grabbed some turquoise lacy boyshort underwear and a matching lace underwire bra. Next she pulled on a pair of black dress pants and was surprised when the waist was just a bit more snug than usual. "It's definitely gotta be twins." Amy put a finger in the waistband to show Ranger the fit.

Having already pulled on his black cargo pants, black Rangeman t-shirt and black socks he walked over to her. He put his hands on her waist and looked down at her still flat stomach before looking into her eyes and smiling. "I'd be lying if I said that part of me wasn't excited to see you with a big pregnant belly."

Amy rolled her eyes and sighed, "It's a macho guy thing, you just can't wait to be able to tell everyone that your responsible for me looking like a whale."

"You will not look like a whale." Ranger insisted. He dropped a quick but firm kiss on her slightly pouty lips then stepped back. "Your running out of time."

Amy turned and grabbed a black v-neck Rangeman t-shirt that had her name embroidered in Navy Blue. She had asked for hot pink but Ranger said No, no surprise there. She pulled the towel from her hair then put on her shirt and walked back to the bathroom. She'd never been a huge fan of makeup, so after brushing some powder all over her face and then putting on eyeliner she was done. Her hair was next, which when it air-dried her natural waves looked good. So after she quickly combed through it she was walking into the bedroom where Ranger was sitting on a chair by the window lacing up his black Bates boots.

"Oh, shoes." She said more to herself as she went back to her closet and grabbed a pair of black ballet flats. When she walked out of the closet Ranger was already gone. Amy was a little surprised to find him in the kitchen making Lexi peanut butter toast while she ate an apple. All Amy could do was smile.

Ranger drove, as he did most days now that they lived together. After dropping Lexi off they headed to Rangeman. Amy's ultrasound appointment wasn't until eleven-thirty, she was pretty sure she wouldn't get any actual work done today because she would be so distracted by the upcoming appointment. After he parked Ranger walked with her to the elevator with a hand on the small of her back.

"So do you have any pressing or urgent appointments this morning?" Ranger asked as the elevator climbed to their floor.

"No," Amy shook her head. "I'm sure I'll just have the usual flood of troubleshooting calls and some new client software packages to get ready for installation."

"Do you have any on-site installations to do today?" He asked just as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

Amy looked at him curiously then stepped off the elevator and went straight to the lounge. He followed along with her. "No. I don't usually do on-site installations any more unless it's a high profile or large volume client. You know that. Pete does about ninety-five percent of the installations these days." She got herself a bottle of water from the fridge and grabbed a banana off the counter for her morning snack later. She also had some of Ella's amazing pickles stashed in Ranger's fridge upstairs that she was planning to eat later as well.

"I know you don't do too many installations but I don't know your schedule so I wasn't sure."

"Why?"

"I was just wondering what your schedule was like today. I have a couple of meetings this morning. But I'm kind of hoping that we can take off after our appointment and go have lunch then maybe just go home. I would try to talk you into staying at the new house but Bobby e-mailed me yesterday and said they have the formal living room completely stripped and ready to be stained." Ranger followed her out of the lounge and to her office, talking the whole way. "They've gotten all of the old carpet in the bedrooms upstairs pulled, but they want to do the flooring all at once so after the formal living room is re-stained and sealed they'll tear up the wood laminate on the main floor."

Amy nodded and made sounds of agreement now and then until they arrived at her office. "He still thinks they can have it ready in six weeks?" She sat down behind her desk and started up her computer and turned her chair to face Ranger who had sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"He seems confident. They're bringing in the painters to paint the upstairs bedrooms, they don't really have to worry about spills since the carpet is gone and the new flooring hasn't gone down yet. They haven't started on the theater room yet. I think they're planning to start on the apartment after most of the main house is done. I told him it isn't as important to have that done by Thanksgiving but it would be nice if it were so that your dad and Stepmom can stay there for the weekend."

"Are we going to have a full house that weekend? I hadn't even thought about just having some family stay with us." Amy leaned back in her chair.

"Well we'll definitely have the room. My parents won't have to stay at the house since they don't live far. I would offer but I know they would refuse anyways. Your parents can have the apartment. I'll have to talk to Elisa and see if she and Peter and the kids would rather stay with mom and dad or with us. Even if they do stay, they'll only need two rooms so that leaves three other rooms. I'll have to talk to my parents and see who might need or want a place to stay. After the dinner invites go out that is. Do you have any other extended family that will need a place to stay? How many of your sibling do you think will come?"

"I honestly don't have a clue. I'm sure that dad and Carrie will come. If they do Callie, my little half sister, can share Lexi's room. My brother Jackson and his wife might want to stay, I'll have to check with him on that. The other kids are anybodies guess. If they do stay I'd be willing to be that they'll just crash in the living room of the apartment. They're all college kids, or close to college-age, so they can sleep just about anywhere."

"What about your mom?"

Amy gave a forced short laugh, "If you can find her address we can send her an invite but she won't have the money to come anyways. And to be honest, I'd rather she didn't know where we'll be living. She has my cell phone number if she ever needs to contact me, that's as much of my personal information as I want her to have."

Ranger nodded, "Fair enough." He stood finally as his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. "I'm guessing my eight-thirty is here." He pulled out his phone and answered, "Yo." He was silent for a minute before responding, "Give me two minutes." And then he hung up.

"Be ready to leave a little before eleven." He said as he leaned over her desk and kissed her. It was just meant to be a quick kiss, but he couldn't always seem to manage that with her. Two minutes later his phone started to vibrate again. He growled but gave her one last short kiss before leaving.

Amy kept busy most of the morning until ten, that's when she hit a lull and didn't have much to do. She ate her banana, but the pickles upstairs in Ranger's fridge seemed to be calling her name. So she went to the elevator and headed up to the apartment. She made a quick trip to the bathroom before heading back to the kitchen. She was just reaching into the fridge when she felt that all too familiar sense of someone watching her. Without hesitating she grabbed the jar of pickles and went to the island, pretending not to notice Ranger standing just outside the kitchen doorway. After grabbing a small plate out of the cabinet she opened the jar and pulled out a few pickle spears.

"Do you want one?" Amy asked without looking at him just before she picked up a spear and took a bite.

"How long did you know I was standing here?" He asked as he walked in and snagged a spear out of the jar before screwing the lid on and putting it back in the fridge.

"Right after I opened the fridge door." Amy finished the first spear and moved on to her second. "How long had you been standing there?"

Ranger's eyebrows furrowed slightly, "I walked in just before you opened the fridge door." He shook his head in disbelief. "How in the world do you always know I'm there?"

"I don't know," Amy shrugged. "I just get this feeling, like I'm being watched."

"So there weren't any pickles in the lounge fridge?"

"They don't last long down there, so I've been keeping them hidden up here." Amy admitted a tad guiltily.

That had Ranger laughing, "You can't even share your pickles?"

"Hey, I'm pregnant! I don't have to share my pickles!"

Ranger walked up behind her and pulled her back against his chest. How has your morning been?"

"Busy until about fifteen minutes ago. Then I remembered I had stashed a jar of pickles up here." Amy finished up her second pickle and started on the third. "What about you?"

"I had a meeting this morning, nothing important. I left today kind of light since we have the ultrasound. I already told Tank that I you and I would be having lunch together and taking off the rest of the afternoon."

Amy nodded, "Did he ask why?"

"No, well I think he's just surprised by everything that's changed in the last five weeks since we started dating. Really in the last three months since he realized I was going to ask you out. Finally."

Amy had to laugh. They had definitely already gone a long way in the five weeks they'd been dating. And they would make even bigger changes in the next six or seven weeks.

Ranger watched and smiled as she popped the last of the pickle in her mouth. "What now?"

Amy shrugged. "Back to my office I guess."

"You know," Ranger grabbed Amy's hand and started slowly walking backwards toward the bedroom. "I can think of something we could do for the next thirty or so minutes." He winked just as the crossed the threshold into the bedroom.

"But what would we do with the other twenty-five minutes?" Amy teased, knowing that would rile him. She barely had time to take a breath before he pulled her quickly to him and fell backwards onto the bed then rolled so he was hovering over her.

"Five minutes huh?" He stood back up and was just starting to pull his shirt up when his cell phone buzzed. "Sonuva…" He gripped his phone and acted like he was going to chuck it across the room before he finally answered. "What?" He looked up at the ceiling and rolled his eyes then stepped further back from the bed and crooked his finger at Amy, telling her to stand up. "Uh hu," he said as he led the way out of the bedroom and went straight for Amy's phone on the kitchen counter and handed it to her. He then went straight on to the apartment door and waited for Amy to catch up as she unlocked her phone and was surprised to see three missed calls from the control room. "We'll be in the conference room in a minute."

"What in the world is going on?" Amy asked Ranger as the elevator doors closed and started to descend.

"Someone has been trying to hack into the security system of Vanderfleet's and at first we thought they had been unsuccessful. But their on-site network security officer has found something. He's saying that it's a defect in our programming, and that because of that defect their main office was broken into last night."

"Fucking bullshit." Amy blurt out.

"It's not a defect in our programming. I know because all of our programs are thoroughly tested before we implement them. So now we, well mainly you, have to figure out what happened. But Tank and I have to go onsite and figure out how in the world the systems many fail safe features and alarms were all completely knocked out."

The elevator doors opened and before Ranger could rush out Amy put a hand on his arm. "The ultrasound."

"We're going to have to meet there. Vanderfleet's is just half a dozen or so blocks from Dr. Sayre's office. I have to go and if I don't talk to him face to face he'll pull their contract." He tilted his head and made a kind of sour face, "I'm sorry, I really am. But I won't miss the ultrasound."

"Okay. Hurry please!" She said as they walked out of the elevator and went to the conference room. Tank and Ranger gave everyone a very quick three minute briefing then left, which meant that Amy was in charge. She had her two main programmers pass all of their current cases off to lower level minions and they all went back to her office to start running the remote analysis on the Vanderfleet system.

At eleven Amy apologized to everyone and excused herself but told them all she would be back by 1. She grabbed her purse out of her desk and then remembered she had ridden in with Ranger that morning and groaned. She walked down the hallway and stepped in the control room to ask what fleet vehicles were available when Hal held up a car and a note.

"For you boss."

"I'm not the boss."

"You are when Ranger and Tank are gone. Ranger left this for you."

"Thanks." Amy gave him a half smile then headed to the elevator. After she stepped on she unfolded the piece of paper.

Take my car, I'll probably have to go back

to Vanderfleet's when we're done.

-R

When the doors opened in the garage Amy remotely unlocked the Cayenne and made her way across town. She had just checked in when Ranger walked in. After a fifteen minute wait, during which they were both furiously responding to and sending text messages and e-mails, Amy was called back.

Gina the ultrasound tech greeted them and handed Amy a sheet and gave her the same instructions as before.

"Can't I just get one of the non-invasive ultrasounds?" Amy was dreading the ultrasound process even though she really wanted to get definitive answers.

Gina smiled reluctantly, "Sorry, this is still the best way to get a clear picture. But I promise that as long as everything looks good today, your next ultrasound will be better and easier. I'll just step out and let you get ready."

Amy groaned but as soon as the door closed she stripped from the waist down and laid on the exam table with the sheet over her legs and lower stomach. A minute later Gina was back and starting the ultrasound.

"Okay, let's see what we can see today." She was pushing buttons and moving the probe around as she spoke. "How have you been feeling?"

"Not too bad. A little queasy now and then, but thankfully my amazing fiance here practically shoves some fruit or some other healthy food in my face every couple hours so the nausea hasn't been bad at all. I'm trying to workout, when I can manage to drag my tired butt out of bed before seven."

"That'll all pass once you get to the second trimester." She smiled at Amy then looked back to the screen. "Ah here we go. So here's baby A, not too much bigger than the last time you saw him but he measures right on. Oh and I just say him or he because saying 'it' seems too weird for me. It is way too soon to be able to tell the gender now."

"Thanks for the warning." Amy was still transfixed by the little bean-shaped baby wiggling on the screen.

"Let's have a quick listen to the heartbeat." Amy and Ranger both smiled when the quick reassuring thud sounded loud and strong. "Perfect. Now let's see about Baby B." Gina moved the probe a bit and suddenly there was another little wiggling bean on the screen. "Here's Baby B. He's measuring a day behind Baby A, which doesn't mean much." She pushed a couple of buttons and the room filled with the loud thudding sound of the baby's heartbeat. "Perfect!" She smiled at Amy and Ranger then pushed some buttons to zoom out and get both babies in one frame. "I printed pictures of each baby individually but here's a couple of both babies in the same frame."

"Oh my God, so it's really twins?" Amy asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah, definitely. I'm going to call in Dr. Sayre, there's nothing wrong but she asked me to call her before I finished your ultrasound."

A couple minutes later Dr. Sayre walked in and saw that Gina had both babies on the screen. "So it's twins!" She tapped Gina's shoulder and had her move so she could take over. "Have you checked for more?"

Gina shook her head but before she could say anything Amy screetched, "MORE?!"

Dr. Sayre patted her leg and smiled. "We just like to make sure we don't miss one. As absurd as it sounds, it happens." Dr. Sayre looked all around and stopped on a small bubble close to Baby B. "At six weeks it's still possible to not see a baby, but my guess is that this is an empty sac."

"What does that mean?" Amy asked as Ranger's grip on her hand tightened.

"It could mean a myriad of things. There could have been three babies and one didn't make it. Sometimes there's just an empty sac, which is called a blighted ovum, and that means that the egg implanted but a baby never formed. There is still a chance that there's a viable baby. Either way there's nothing to be done, we'll just keep an eye on you." She removed the wand and helped Amy sit up. "So, we now know there's twins for sure. I'm going to write you a prescription for a prenatal vitamin. With twins you'll need more folic acid and since your already taking extra Iron I want you to double the amount you've been taking. I want to see you again in two weeks. You'll be eight weeks then. We'll go from there after we see if it's just the two or if there's three."

"I don't want to sound bad, but he's already been paranoid and overprotective knowing that there might be two. If there's three, he'll have me living in a bubble. Are you sure you can't tell if there's three right now?"

Dr. Sayre smiled as she chuckled, "Not definitively, no. You'll just have to live in suspense for the next two weeks."

Amy looked to the ceiling then smiled at Dr. Sayre. "Thank You so much. Gina said something about pictures?"

"Oh!" Gina grabbed the little black and white pictures and handed them to Amy. "Now you have some pictures to share with family and friends."

"I don't think we're telling anyone yet. But I will be looking at these a lot." Amy passed them on to Ranger after she had looked through them all. "Thank You so much."

"My pleasure," Dr. Sayre stood up, "Make an appointment for two weeks from now, tell them it'll be another ultrasound. But you'll get the full regular workup then. We usually do most first appointments at about ten weeks. Since we already know your having twins at least, doing yours at eight weeks works out for the better. Do you guys have any questions?"

Amy shook her head. Not surprisingly Ranger had a couple questions. "I'm sure everyone asks this, but are we still okay to have sex?"

Amy covered her face with both hands in shock, "Ranger!"

Dr. Sayre chuckled, "For now there's no restrictions. With multiples I'll warn you that may change as you get closer to your due date. For now your fine."

Ranger nodded, "Amy has been eating about every two hours or so, are there any foods she should avoid or any foods she should eat more of?"

"As long as your eating a balanced diet you'll be fine. I'll have my nurse Abby bring you some reading materials on all of that. Anything else?"

"No." Amy answered before Ranger could come up with some other insane questions. "We really have some work to get back to anyways."

"I'll see you in two weeks."

Amy nodded, but as soon as the door closed behind Dr. Sayre she slapped Ranger's shoulder. "You seriously asked about sex?!"

"What?" He put his hands out reflexively when Amy made to slap at him again. "I was curious."

Amy shook her head as she pulled her pants back on. "Your not allowed to ask questions any more."

They walked out to the desk and made the next appointment then headed out to the parking lot.

"I left Tank at Vanderfleet's. Go have some lunch and then I'll see you at home whenever we finish."

"I told Brent and Tess I would be back by one to help them."

"Oh, you really don't have to go back to Rangeman."

"I know, but this is a big client and it's a pretty big breach so I feel better helping them with it."

"The breach is not our fault." Ranger was obviously still mad about it. "I know you know that. But I just don't want you to feel any guilt over this. Tank and I are guessing it's an inside job."

"It has to be. None of our software packages go out to the client until they've been rigorously tested. But I want to have the proof to show Mr. Vincent that it wasn't us."

"I get that." Ranger agreed and stopped at the Cayenne. "Well, your free to go home whenever you want to. I can't make any promises but I would like to be home about five."

"Sounds good."

Ranger leaned down and gave Amy a light kiss. "Bye sweetheart."

"Bye." Amy smiled at Ranger as he closed her door for her and waited for her to back out of her spot and pull away before he headed to the black Rangeman Suburban across the parking lot. There went their afternoon playing hooky.


	15. Chapter 15

I'm back on schedule, for now. Sorry for the delay over the holidays. Thanks for reading! I still am just utterly surprised when I see how many times my story gets read with each new update. I wish there was a way to tell you guys that I'm working on the next chapter without doing a chapter update! You guys are awesome! Keep the reviews coming, I love them all!

Chapter 15

Amy stayed at the office until three, she was at least going to pick Lexi up from school like she had planned to do. As soon as she got home she changed into her yoga pants and an oversized sweater and snuggled under a blanket on the couch.

"What's for supper mom?"

Amy wasn't sure she was even hungry. After spending all afternoon working on the Vanderfleet software and trying to find evidence of tampering while Brent and Tess looked for any problems with the software itself had mentally worn her out. "What do you want for supper?"

"Pizza?!" Lexi asked excitedly as she practically jumped up and down.

"Sure," Amy was not in any mood to cook anyways. "I'll call and order around 5. What kind do you want?"

"What is Ranger's favorite kind of pizza?"

Amy smiled, of course Lexi would want to order his favorite.

"Ranger doesn't really eat much pizza, so I'm not sure. We had kind of a big issue at work today so I'm not sure when he'll be home baby. I'll call him before I order and see if he even wants any. Okay?"

"Okay." Lexi's excitement had dropped noticeably. "I want veggie pizza."

When it was just the two of them they would order a supreme and ask for half with no meat since Lexi just liked the veggies on her pizza. If Ranger would eat anything Amy guessed it would be veggie pizza. She decided to send him a quick text instead of calling and bugging him while he was with a client.

A: Ordering pizza for dinner, any requests? Lex likes veggie.

Ranger's response came a minute later, which kind of surprised Amy.

R: Veggie works for me.

A: ETA on when you'll be home?

R: Not sure, Vincent still isn't convinced that it isn't our fault. We've found no

physical evidence of tampering.

A: When I left Brent and Tess we had made some good progress. I'll need to

make an on-site visit Monday if you guys or Brent and Tess don't find

anything.

R: We will get this cleared up today. I'm not leaving until this is done.

A: So we lost our afternoon and now our evening too?

R: I'm hoping we won't lose our evening. Order some pizza, I'll be home as

soon as I can. I love you sweetie.

A: Love you too.

Ranger finally got home a little after seven, looking a little tired, but still smiled when he walked over to where Amy was lounging on the couch. She had a fluffy blanket over her legs and Flynn was laying on her feet, while she did some knitting. He leaned down over her and gave her a kiss then walked over to Lexi who was watching Tangled and hadn't even noticed him walking in. He lightly grabbed her shoulder then released it, "Hey Lex."

She gave him an apprehensive smile, "Hi." She paused, "Mom left the pizza on the counter."

Ranger nodded, "Thanks." He winked then went back to Amy. He sat on the ottoman just a few feet from the couch. "It was their network security officer. He didn't realize that you had hidden a program to keep track of every time someone logs in to the system and alters the original programming." He got up and squatted in front of her, "I had no idea you'd hidden that program code in their software package. You literally saved us one of our biggest clients today. Thank you sweetheart." He leaned forward and kissed her, turning his head a little he probed the seam of her lips with his tongue and she opened to him.

After about a minute Amy pulled back. "For the record, that programming code is hidden in every software package we install. I'll admit the original purpose for it was actually an internal tracking system to know who had worked on the program and what they had done. I just never deleted it from the package because I realized it could be useful." She gave him an almost bashful smile, "Pizza is on the counter. I got a large half supreme half veggie. There's some breadsticks too."

"Do we still have lettuce for salad?"

Amy nodded, "Your not going to eat any pizza, are you?"

"Probably one piece." Ranger stood up.

"Fun-hater." Amy teased.

Ranger came back in a few minutes later with a large salad, one piece of pizza, and a bottle of water. Amy was knitting away. "What are you making?"

"I'm finishing up a scarf for Ella for Christmas. Then I'll probably start on a new winter headband for Lexi." She glanced up at him then back to her knitting. "Why, do you want a hat or something?"

Ranger shook his head. "Have you ever knit a baby blanket?"

Amy's eyes shot up to his, to Lexi who was still enthralled by her movie, and then back to Ranger. "Yes, why?"

"Do you think you can get two blankets done in about seven months?"

Amy shrugged. "I suppose I'll find out." She stood up and headed to the kitchen giving Ranger a head nod telling him to follow her. Once they were out of Lexi's range of hearing, "Do you want to find out what we're having, or leave it a surprise?"

"What do you think?" Ranger rinsed his plate in the sink then put it in the dishwasher. "Wouldn't it be easier to know, especially since we're having two, possibly three at once. Did you find out with Lexi?"

Amy nodded, "Troy wanted to know."

"But you didn't?"

She shook her head, "I like the idea of it being a surprise. With all of the other medical procedures and interventions with pregnancy and birth these days, not knowing the gender-or genders in our case-always sounded more fun to me."

Ranger nodded once and looked at her for a few seconds before giving her his signature smirk, "Then we won't find out."

"If you want to know I'm fine finding out."

"No," he answered quickly. "We haven't followed any other traditions or done anything else remotely normal so I think not knowing works perfectly for us."

Amy smiled. "So just how many people are coming to your parents tomorrow night for my birthday dinner?"

"Well with my parents just never know. I'm betting it'll be like most other Manoso gatherings. Why, are you worried?"

"No," Amy shook her head, "You just haven't really said much about it."

"What is there to say? My mom wanted to cook for you for your birthday, and since she can cook your favorite foods much better than I could I figured I'd let her."

Amy chuckled. "Cheater."

"You probably wouldn't want me to make your birthday dinner, unless you like twigs and berries." He teased, knowing that most everyone thought Ranger never ate anything the least bit unhealthy.

"I need more sustenance than that to grow healthy babies." Amy teased. She walked around the island and put her arms around his waist "Wanna snuggle on the couch with me?"

Ranger looped his arms loosely around her, "Can we make out too?"

"Later, after Lexi goes to bed."

"Now who's the fun-hater?" Ranger couldn't help but tease her back as he left one arm around her waist as they walked back out to the living room.

"I let you knock me up, I think we've had enough fun in that department." Amy deadpanned, which only made Ranger laugh. She was always quick with a witty comeback, which was something that he absolutely loved about her.

He leaned down so his mouth was right next to her ear as they walked into the living room, "You can never have enough fun in that department." He let his hand lower to her behind and gave one cheek a little pinch. Amy turned her head to scowl at him as she sat in the middle of the couch and Ranger took her previous spot and pulled her into him.

"Did you call your dad about Thanksgiving?" Ranger kicked his feet out onto the ottoman.

Amy nodded, "He and Carrie and the kids are definitely coming out. I told him we were sending out formal dinner invitations but I wanted to warn him so he had enough time to get flights booked."

"And your brother?"

"They're coming too. I think they're all just anxious to meet you. Carrie kept telling me to move on and start dating after I moved up here, I just never felt ready."

"You were just waiting for the perfect guy." Ranger said smugly.

"Yeah I was, but I found you and figured you were good enough." She knew that would rile him up, she knew she'd hit her mark when his hand quickly snaked to the back of her thigh and tickled her. "I'm kidding! Ranger!" She tried to get off of the couch and away from him but he had one arm wrapped firmly around her waist.

Ranger stopped after a few more moments and noticed that Lexi was watching them with a huge ear-to-ear grin on her face. He winked at her before nuzzling into Amy's neck, "Your lucky that you're pregnant and I don't want to shake the babies too much."

Amy had to laugh at that comment but she was really loving their new normal and having Ranger living with them. She could tell that Lexi was already used to it and enjoyed having Ranger with them pretty much all the time. "You can't shake the babies by tickling me," she whispered back. All in all she couldn't imagine a better way to spend a Friday night.

Saturday morning was a pretty lazy for them, after a light lunch Amy decided to shower and change out of her pajamas. Wearing blue jeans and a lavender v-neck long-sleeve shirt she slipped on some Uggs and took Lexi out to get their nails done upon Ranger's insistence that they do something fun and girly for Amy's birthday. They came back with freshly painted nails just in time to get changed to head to Newark.

Lexi wore a shimmery dark purple knee-length dress with black leggings. Amy had braided her hair in one French braid per her request. Amy opted to wear a knee-length navy blue wrap dress and left her elbow-length wavy hair to flow down her back. Ranger stepped out of the closet as Amy worked on her makeup. He was wearing black slacks, a grey button-down shirt with the top two buttons undone, and a black vest.

"You look nice," Amy said as she watched him in the mirror.

"Mom kind of makes a big deal out of birthdays, so we all dress up." Ranger shrugged as he spritzed himself with his signature Bulgari cologne. "How much longer will you be?"

"I just need to finish my makeup then get shoes."

"No heels."

Amy dropped her hand so she didn't mess up her eyeliner and turned towards him. "Why no heels?"

"Your pregnant, I don't want you to lose your balance because of those ankle-breaking heels you like to wear."

Amy scowled at him, "One, your not my dad so you don't get to dictate my wardrobe. Two, I wear heels all the time so it's not something abnormal for me. And three, if you ever try to tell me what I can or can't wear I will knee you in the balls. Got it?" She was only half serious but she liked watching Ranger's face change from his normal blank expression to a somewhat worried and slightly wide-eyed look.

"I'm just concerned."

"Your just being insanely overprotective. I'll wear whatever shoes I want, thank you very much." Amy smirked and went back to applying the rest of her eye liner. A minute later her light makeup was done and she was in the closet looking at her shoes while Ranger watched. She had a pair of Navy Blue sandals that would match but early October wasn't the best time to wear sandals. Another option was a pair of four-inch stiletto heels in Navy Blue. Her last option, and one that would keep her from following Ranger's insane no heel dictate but still keep him somewhat happy, was a pair of shimmery nude open-toed kitten heels. She really wanted to wear the nude stilettos but opted to go for option three just to kind of try to keep the peace with Ranger a little.

She walked out of the closet and Ranger looked straight down at her feet. She shrugged her shoulders, "A compromise. I like heels, I'm not going to quit wearing them just because I'm pregnant."

He nodded, "Fair enough. Shall we go then?"

"Definitely."

Ranger walked in the front door of his parents house and they were instantly greeted to a living room and dining room full of people. Marie rushed to them as soon as she spotted them.

"Oh Carlos, and Amy! You look beautiful!" she rushed over and gave Carlos a hug before turning to Amy and giving her a squeeze. She took a step back holding Amy at arms-length, "You look different, did you color your hair?"

Amy suddenly felt a little nervous, she didn't feel any different but she knew that some people could just tell something was different once you were pregnant. "No," she shook her head, "I think it's just this dress."

Marie nodded, "That's probably it." But she kept looking at Amy for a few more moments before she grabbed Lexi's hand, "Alexa, I need some help in the kitchen. Since it's your mama's special day, how would you like to help me?"

Lexi smiled and nodded furiously, "I would love to!" She looked at Amy, "Can I?"

"Absolutely baby girl, go ahead."

Amy tossed a cautious look at Ranger before they were surrounded by Manoso's. Everyone was generous with the hugs and kisses on the cheek. Ranger intercepted someone taking a margarita to Amy and gave it to someone else, giving her a bottle of water instead. Marie called for everyone to stand around the dining room table and say Grace together before an extra table was set up in the living room and everyone sat down to start eating.

Marie had knocked Amy's birthday dinner out of the park. The appetizers were insanely delicious, fried ravioli, Italian stuffed mushrooms, and bruschetta. There was stuffed shells, cheese-stuffed meatballs, and chicken alfredo along with a few different antipasto salads, lettuce salad, and breadsticks. Amy was pretty sure her pants wouldn't fit anymore after that carb-filled dinner. She could tell that Ranger was just happy to see her eating enthusiastically for the first time since they found out she was pregnant. For dessert Marie had made a special lemon cake with lemon frosting since that was Amy's favorite kind of cake, but she also made a more traditional Cuban dulce de leche flan.

Amy couldn't help herself, she took a small slice of the lemon cake and a small slice of the flan. Ranger gave her a slightly dirty look, considering he was not a fan of desserts at all. However Marie made him take a piece of flan, knowing that was one of the few desserts he would eat.

Ranger sat down next to Amy and leaned toward her, "You'll pay for those desserts later. Just because your eating for three doesn't mean you can eat that much."

Amy shot him a dirty look, "I will eat whatever I want to eat on my birthday. This is the one day of the year that I allow myself to eat anything and everything I want." She continued to scowl at him, "I don't stuff myself at Thanksgiving or Christmas, my Birthday is the one and only day I give myself. Because it's not just my birthday, it's also the day my divorce was finalized. This is my day." Amy made her point by finishing the last bite of her flan and taking a big bite of her lemon cake.

Ranger put a hand on her thigh, "I'm sorry. I was trying to tease you, but as most people would tell you I'm not known for my sense of humor." He squeezed her leg and smiled at her, "To be honest, I've been happy to see you eat so well tonight after the rough week or so you've had with nausea and food."

She wanted to stay mad at him, she really did. But he really wasn't that great with teasing or jokes. "One thing you should keep in mind, never talk about how much food a woman is eating, especially not a pregnant woman."

"My apologies sweetheart." He dropped a kiss on her cheek before letting her return to her cake. Ranger turned to Lexi who was sitting next to his mom, "Lex, I forgot your moms birthday present. Would you mind running out to the car for me?"

Lexi popped up and ran over to Ranger, "Sure!"

"It's a bright pink gift bag in the back."

"Okay!" Lexi practically sprinted out of the dining room and was out the front door in just a few seconds.

Amy eyed him suspiciously, "Birthday present?"

"Of course! Plus your officially thirty, so it needs to be celebrated and you deserve a fabulous present."

She was just about to bug him with more questions when Lexi ran in with the pink gift bag and gave it to Ranger.

"Thanks little lady." Ranger said, which made Lexi duck her head and blush all the way back to her seat. "For you." He handed the bag to Amy.

She felt her cheeks warm a little and leaned over to kiss him before she started digging into the layers of tissue paper in the bag. Amy pulled out a long envelope and eyed Ranger suspiciously. She set it aside and kept digging until she pulled out a long skinny box. Finding nothing more in the bag she smiled at Ranger.

"Does it matter which one I open first?" she asked.

Ranger shook his head, "No, go for it."

Amy was pretty sure the long skinny box was jewelry of some kind so she went for the envelope. Inside were two airline tickets and a brochure for a private villa in the Maldives. Amy's jaw dropped and she looked up at Ranger, "Shut the front door, are you serious?"

Ranger smiled and nodded at her, "They're open-dated, but I'm hoping we can go over the New Year holiday."

Amy squealed and threw herself at him, basically crawling into his lap and giving him a very enthusiastic kiss. After a few moments she finally got herself under control and sat in her own chair again. "This is amazing, I can't believe you remembered!"

"Well I looked at Tihiti and Bora Bora too, but the Maldives just seemed like a good choice. Plus neither one of us have been there."

Amy just nodded at him as her cheeks started to hurt from smiling so hard and she was trying so hard not to cry. "This is just amazing, seriously. I've always wanted to go. Carlos, thank you so much."

Ranger pointed to the box Amy hadn't yet opened. "You still have one more."

"You'd better be careful spoiling me like this, I could get used to it."

"You deserve it," he whispered, although his mom still heard it and she gave him a loving smile.

Amy unwrapped and opened the box and found a necklace with a ring pendant on it. "This is beautiful," she smiled at him and dropped her hands and the necklace box to her lap, "You did too much. Thank You, again, so much. This is definitely the best birthday I've had, literally ever."

Ranger took the necklace out of the box, "Can I put this on for you?"

"Oh yeah," Amy turned her back to him and pulled her hair over her shoulder.

Ranger opened the clasp on the necklace and lost his grip, dropping one end causing the ring to fall to the floor. "Whoops, hang on." He dropped to the ground to look for the ring. Just as Amy turned to see if he'd found it she saw Ric's brother Jorge taking pictures and noticed Marie had Ric's hand clasped firmly in both of hers and had them held to her chest. That was when she noticed movement from the corner of her eye, she turned and saw Carlos on one knee beside her. Amy's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped and the tears she had tried to hold back earlier started falling.

"Amaya Leigh Kendrick, I love you so much more than I ever thought it was possible or imaginable to love another person." Ranger paused as he took a breath and took Amy's hand in his, "I can't imagine spending the rest of my life without you and Lexi in it. Will you do me the immense honor of being my wife?"

Amy took a couple breaths to make sure that everyone would hear her answer as she nodded, "Yes! Carlos, yes!"

He slipped the ring on her finger just before he stood up and swept her into his arms. Cautiously he picked her up off the ground and spun a slow circle as their lips crashed together and everyone cheered. He felt someone tugging on his pants so he stopped to set Amy down and picked up Lexi. "What do you think girlie, is it okay if your mom and I get married?"

"Yeah!" Lexi smiled and nodded as Ranger put one arm around Amy. He couldn't believe that he was holding his entire life in his arms.

They were quickly surrounded with all of Ranger's family as everyone wanted to offer their congratulations. Marie was the first to get to them and she immediately pulled Amy into a hug.

"My dear girl, I had a feeling about you from the beginning. You've made my Carlos so much happier than I have seen him in so long." She released Amy then grabbed her left hand, "Let's see this ring though, Carlos wouldn't let me see it before."

Amy finally got her first real look at the ring, since she'd been too caught up in the moment to check it out. Ranger had definitely gone all out on the ring. It was a huge cushion cut diamond with a halo of small round diamonds around it and small round diamonds set all the way around the band.

"Carlos, you picked out a gorgeous ring. Did you have help?" Marie asked as she stepped back and let someone else have a chance to hug and talk to Amy.

Ranger shook his head, "I may have been using Amy's computer at home, and she might have left her Pinterest page open. There could have been some rings she had saved onto one of her boards."

Amy smirked at him, "You cheater!"

"Hey it's not cheating if it's right there! It's not like I went searching for ideas." He smiled at her then leaned down and kissed her cheek. "You like it though, don't you?"

"Of course. It's beautiful." Amy admitted.

"That's all that matters then." Ranger winked at her.

Ric walked into the room then with a couple bottles of champagne and was followed quickly by his brother Jorge with some flutes. "A celebratory drink for everyone!"

Amy looked to Ranger and he just kept smiling. He pulled her into his side and nuzzled into her neck, "Just take a couple sips, it won't hurt anything. But no one will be suspicious either." He whispered in her ear, lightly kissing her cheek before returning to his conversation with a cousin.

Ric brought them each a flute first. Once everyone had a glass Ric got everyone's attention. "I am so glad to be adding another daughter and granddaughter to our family. I am even happier that everyone was here to witness the proposal, mainly so that you all saw it for yourself and can't claim that it didn't happen! I wasn't sure if I'd ever see my son get married. Marie and I couldn't be happier to have Amy and her pretty daughter Lexi join the Manoso family. So raise your glass, cheers to my son and his beautiful fiancé and daughter."

Everyone cheered and took a drink. Amy barely took a sip then set her glass on the side table and hoped no one would notice. Twenty minutes later she ducked away and headed to the bathroom off the kitchen. When she walked out she was surprised to find Marie waiting for her.

"Oh, Hi." She said, caught off guard.

"I'm probably being nosy, so don't be afraid to tell me to mind my own business." She paused and Amy just kept the smile on her face, not faultering as she nodded. "Are you pregnant?"

One side of Amy's mouth dropped for just a second before she shook her head and corrected herself, "No, of course not."

Marie just kept watching her with a smile, "I noticed right off when you got here that you just looked a little different. And you didn't drink at all, no wine with dinner and no champagne."

"I drank the ch…"

"Barely a sip," Marie interrupted. "I'm sorry, I'm meddling and sticking my nose in like an annoying mother-in-law and you and Carlos aren't even married yet. But it's not a problem if you are, in fact Ric and I have been kind of annoyingly persistent with Carlos the last couple of years, telling him to settle down and start a family."

Ranger walked in and Amy had never been so happy to see him. "Here you are, Jorge wanted to take some posed portraits of us to go with the candids he took."

"Carlos honey," Marie smiled and kissed his cheek. "I was just talking to Amy about starting your own family. Actually I asked her if she's pregnant."

Ranger's smile didn't falter but he noticed Amy's slightly worried expression out of the corner of his eye. "What makes you think that mom?"

"Amy didn't drink all evening. And she just looks different."

"We definitely want to add to our family soon," Ranger looked to Amy who tipped her head slightly then just nodded. "Uh, actually…"

"I'm sorry I lied," Amy finally caved. "We just found out that I'm pregnant, about six weeks. We aren't telling anyone yet."

Marie's smile grew and she pulled Amy into another hug. "I have a sixth sense when it comes to these things. I knew you were pregnant as soon as you walked in the door tonight." She released Amy and put her hands on Carlos's shoulders, "A new big house, your getting married, and having a baby!" she pulled him down into a fierce hug. "It's about time." After a few moments she released him and stepped back, "Your secret is safe with me." She turned and went back to the living room.

"You didn't tell her it's twins?" Ranger asked as he followed Amy into the kitchen.

"We don't know for sure yet that it's not more than twins, so I figured we would just keep that to ourselves for now." Amy grabbed one of the last pieces of bruschetta off the plate on the counter and ate it.

Ranger nodded, "Sounds good." He went to the fridge and got two bottles of water. "I can't believe she knew."

Amy shrugged, "We were going to tell her anyways, although I did want more information first."

"You look tired," Ranger handed her one of the bottles of water. "Should we call it a night?"

Amy took a long drink of water before she put the cap back on and nodded. "I'm going to need to sleep in tomorrow."

"You need it." Ranger said as he walked over to her. He put an arm around her shoulders and walked back out to the living room with her. He tracked down his mom, "We're going to head out, but I wanted to make sure you knew that we won't be up for lunch tomorrow."

Marie frowned and furrowed her brows slightly, "That's too bad. Why not?"

"Amy needs to get some rest so we're going to have a lazy family day tomorrow."

Marie nodded in agreement, "You take care of her Carlos, I know you don't need to be told that but I'm your mother and it's my job to make sure you remember how you were raised. That woman has agreed to be your wife and she is now carrying your child, she needs a little extra patience and love."

"I've got it mom, I've started doing most of the cooking since the smell of just about anything cooking makes her nauseated."

Marie patted his arm, "You're a good man Carlos. You are going to be an amazing father to this baby."

Ranger nodded as he put his arm around his mom's shoulder and gave her a squeeze.

They said their good-byes, but it took forty-five minutes to finally make it out the door. Once they were finally in the car and headed home, Amy and Lexi both fell asleep just outside of Newark.

Sunday morning Ranger got up at six and made use of the free weights Amy had in her home gym in the basement. After lifting for about half an hour he went on an eight mile run. He was in the kitchen drinking a protein shake when Lexi came downstairs around eight. He smiled at her as she climbed onto one of the stools at the island. "Morning Lexi-girl, did you sleep well?"

Lexi nodded and rubbed her eyes. "Is mom up?"

"Not yet, she's a little tired so I figured we could let her sleep in a bit. Is that okay?"

Again Lexi nodded.

"Would you be okay with having some yogurt for now? I want to make your mom a big breakfast when she gets up. Maybe you could help me?"

Lexi was now smiling and she nodded, "Mom loves pancakes and bacon."

"What about eggs?" Ranger asked, even though he already knew that Amy liked those too.

"Yeah," Lexi was now bouncing in her seat. "Mom likes eggs, especially omelets."

"Good, we'll get started on that in about an hour, or until your mom gets up." Ranger finished his shake and went to the sink to rinse the cup out and put it in the dishwasher. "What kind of yogurt do you want?"

"Mom usually puts some strawberries and blueberries in my pink Elsa yogurt."

"You got it." Ranger went to the fridge and got out a container of Lexi's favorite yogurt along with the berries. He cut the strawberries then tossed them into a small bowl with some blueberries and spooned the yogurt on top. "Here you are," he slid it across the counter. "I'm sure your mom probably makes it look prettier than this, but go easy on me I'm new to making breakfast for such a pretty little girl."

Lexi's cheeks turned the same color pink as her Disney princess pajamas and she looked down into her bowl. "It's good." She said after she took her first bite.

"What if your mom and I took you up to see the new house today?" Ranger asked as Lexi ate her yogurt. "It's still under construction, but you haven't been up there yet. You can check out the room your mom picked out for you." Ranger stopped talking when he saw Lexi nodding so hard he thought she might get dizzy and fall off of her seat. "We'll head up after lunch."

At nine Ranger dumped all of the ingredients for pancakes into a big mixing bowl and put Lexi in charge of whisking it all together. He set some bacon and sausage on the counter then told Lexi he would be right back. He took the stairs two at a time and slowly opened up the bedroom door to check on Amy. The room was still somewhat dark since the blinds were down and the curtains were drawn. He slowly and carefully started walking toward the bed, so he wouldn't scare Amy awake, when he heard a noise in the bathroom. He quickly turned his head toward the bathroom and saw that the light was on and the door was closed so she must already be awake.

He knocked lightly on the door, "Hey Sweetheart, can I come in?"

After a few seconds of rustling she answered groggily, "Yeah."

Ranger opened the door and found Amy sitting on the cold tile floor leaning against the wall next to the toilet. He walked over and knelt in front of her. "Oh sweetie, are you okay?"

She nodded then dropped her head back against the wall. "Your kids have decided it's time for mama to suffer."

Ranger tilted his head and gave her his best sympathetic smile as he put a hand on her knee. "You might not like what Lexi and I have going on in the kitchen right now then."

"Don't even talk about the f-word right now." Amy groaned and closed her eyes, taking slow, deep breaths.

"How about this, I'll go down and bring you up some water and maybe some plain crackers." Amy didn't answer, she just sat there with her head resting on the wall and her eyes closed taking slow deep breaths. "I could scramble some eggs."

Amy shook her head and could feel her mouth start to water, she fought off the overwhelming urge to throw up, again. "No food."

"Maybe if you get something in your stomach you'll feel better. I won't make you eggs, but I'll be right back up with some water, toast, and crackers." He patted her knee and stood up. "I'll be right back."

Amy didn't move even an inch while Ranger was gone. She was still in the exact same spot and position as when he'd left her ten minutes earlier.

"Here sweetie, take small sips." Ranger said as he handed her a bottle of water.

Amy slowly sipped some water then handed it back. She still hadn't opened her eyes and she wasn't moving any more than she had to as she tried to avoid jostling and making the nausea worse.

"Do you want to try to eat something?"

Amy quietly considered for a few seconds, "Toast, please." She finally opened her eyes and watching him as he gave her half a piece of buttered toast. He was totally out of his element being unable to do anything to make her feel better. She took the toast and took a small bite. After a minute she took another small bite.

"I told Lexi we would go up to the new house this afternoon, if your feeling up to it." Ranger was sitting just a couple feet in front of her with the plate on his lap.

Amy nodded, "We haven't been up there in a couple weeks, it'll be nice to see the progress they've made."

"Bobby e-mailed me Friday and said that the rooms were all painted. They have the sitting room stained and ready for varnish this week. Then the hard wood flooring will start going down by the end of the week. We need to settle on the carpet for the bedrooms."

Amy took a few more small bites of the toast and nodded slowly. "I like the grey with the colored flecks, it'll show less dirt and stains."

"Why not just get black then?"

Amy sent Ranger a stern look and shook her head. "No."

"I think Bobby said the sample books were still in the kids' entertainment room, we'll have to look."

Amy nodded, "Where's Lex?"

"Downstairs eating her pancakes and omelet." He acted like making breakfast for a six-year old was something he did every day.

Amy smiled for the first time all morning, "You made her pancakes and an omelet?"

He nodded, "and fried some bacon." He watched her as her smile grew and her eyes got watery. "Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm pregnant and hormonal. Because you made Lexi her favorite breakfast and let me sleep in." One tear fell and Ranger reached out to brush it away with his thumb.

"Why wouldn't I make Lexi breakfast? We're getting married, I'll be Lexi's dad-hopefully legally-of course I made her breakfast and let you sleep in. Your growing at least two babies, you need the rest." He leaned toward her, "Can I kiss you?"

Amy nodded. Ranger lightly brushed his lips against hers then sat back.

"So," Ranger nodded toward the mostly eaten piece of toast Amy still had in her hand. "Is the toast helping?"

"Yes." Amy nodded. "I'm still not ready to get up yet. But the toast definitely is helping." She finished the first half and took the second half off the plate. "You can go down and eat your own breakfast."

Ranger shrugged, "I'd rather sit here with you to keep you company and take care of you." He finally started to feel better when Amy ate the other half of the piece of toast. "If you want to get cleaned up I can make some more pancakes for you."

"Sounds good to me." She went to stand but suddenly Ranger's hands pulling her up.

"Take you're time, I'll get started on the pancakes." He started toward the door.

"Can you make me a small omelet, please? And some bacon?" Amy smiled at him weakly, still looking pale and tired.

"Absolutely." Ranger smiled. At least she was feeling better and wanting to eat.

Amy ended up eating the omelet Ranger had made for her along with a few slices of bacon and a few pancakes as well. She would have to be careful or she would end up gaining a LOT of weight. They left for the house a little after eleven. Lexi loved the house instantly and was very excited about her new bedroom. They spent a couple of hours there looking at everything that had been done and talking about what was still left to be done.

All of the next week Amy woke up with her alarm at six am, ran to the bathroom to throw up, and after eating a protein bar she would do a light work out. Ranger had started making use of her small home gym so he could be home to help her when she was having morning sickness. He'd even had to take over making breakfast for Lexi since cooking anything, including oatmeal, made her feel sick.

Monday October seventeenth started the same as every morning the previous few weeks. After dropping Lexi off at school Ranger drove Amy to work. Amy was in the lounge getting her habitual bottle of water when Tank walked in.

"Hey lovebirds, keep it decent at work at least," he teased as he went to the fridge and got himself a water.

Ranger didn't even react to Tank's comment, he made little jabs like that all the time now that he and Amy were engaged. "Have you finished calling back the applicants to come in for their first interviews?"

Tank nodded then leaned against the counter next to Amy who was just standing there sipping her water slowly. "You look a little pale this morning Ames, are you feeling okay?"

Amy gave him a half smile and nodded. It was a lie, she wasn't. Someone had definitely used the microwave just before she'd gotten to work, the entire break room smelled like cooked meat of some kind. It was taking all of the personal strength she possessed not to run from the room as fast as she possibly could.

Ranger noticed that she looked like she was about to bolt from the room so he motioned towards the door. "Let's go check that software package before it needs to be sent out later today."

Amy looked relieved and tried not to sprint out the door, "Bye Tank!" she said just before she disappeared.

They walked down the hall and turned towards Amy's office. She unlocked her door and walked in with Ranger right behind her.

"I've got meetings most of the morning. I've kind of packed my schedule through Thursday so we can try to take Friday off after your appointment."

Amy nodded, "Pending any huge crazy complications" she teased. "I need to leave early tomorrow…"

"For Lexi's therapy appointment." Ranger nodded. "Do you want me to meet you there?"

"I'll be fine, we're not doing a family session this week. I know you have a lot going on. Adding on therapy appointments, the construction at the new house, legal crap because of me, and then appointments for me every two weeks. You take care of clients and business here."

"Amy, it's not a hassle at all to go to Lexi's therapy appointments. I know it sounds weird coming from me, but having all of this going on just makes me thankful to have a family."

Amy smiled and sighed, "You've always had a family, and I'm not just talking about the people your related to." Ranger's expression remained flat, "Here. These guys you work with every day, Ella, hell Tank is basically a brother to you."

"I suppose. But you and Lexi and the babies, this is the firs ttime I've really felt like I have my own family. I never had that with Rachel and Julie. After them I never wanted that. You and Lexi changed that for me."

She had been barely holding the tears at bay until that sentence, then the flood gates opened. "Carlos, it's the same for me. You know that. But saying things like that to me at work isn't exactly the best way to keep people from knowing that I'm pregnant. I never cry. But if they see me now they'll all start to wonder what's going on."

"I'm sorry sweetie," he rounded her desk and pulled her out of her chair against his hard chest. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"It doesn't take much these days." Amy said as she sniffled and pulled back from him. "But as far as tomorrow is concerned. Take care of your meetings and make sure you're free Friday afternoon for the ultrasound."

"I wouldn't dream of missing that!" Ranger smiled.

Amy sat back down and started checking e-mails. "Speaking of therapy, I got an e-mail from the therapist."

"What did she have to say?"

"Well, let's just see." Amy started reading it then smiled and started reading it. "My preliminary assessment has been officially sent to Troy's lawyer. It basically says that Lexi has had a great childhood so far and that she isn't really lacking anything in her life without his presence. You have built a stable home environment for her and she is a very sweet little girl. That's all. See you guys tomorrow."

"That's great." Ranger rubbed Amy's shoulder. "One less thing to worry about."

Amy nodded. "Have you heard any more from your lawyer?"

"No," Ranger shook his head. "He told me that this could take some time since the incident was so many years ago. Other than Troy being served with the new charges I haven't heard anything new. I'm sure his lawyer is shitting his pants, they probably thought that since you didn't charge him then that you wouldn't bring it back up now."

Amy leaned back in her chair and rested one hand on her belly, "I wouldn't have if he hadn't decided to go for this stupid early release program. I can't say that he's a bad father, because he never really got a chance to be much of a father at all. But that's not my fault, and it certainly isn't Lexi's. So I refuse to let him figure this shit out now when she's older and is going to remember everything."

"Calm down sweetie, there's no use getting stressed or worked up about it. I've told you, and our whole team of lawyers has told you, you haven't done anything wrong. Everything you have done in the last five years has been for Lexi. No judge is going to overlook that. But the new domestic charge doesn't hurt." He winked at her. "I hate leaving you, but I have to go and get ready for my eight-thirty meeting. Lunch at noon upstairs?"

Amy groaned, "I still don't want to think about food."

Ranger smiled, he leaned down and dropped a kiss on her cheek. "You need to eat something. Try a banana or something in the next hour or so. You just need to keep eating, that seems to help with the nausea at home."

She sent him a nasty glare and dropped her voice, "I'm not even eight weeks pregnant yet and I can barely fit into my pants. At this rate, I'll be wearing a freaking tent by my ninth month! Stop shoving food at me."

He tipped his head to one side and grinned, "You have to eat, it's for the babies. AND you have to gain weight, your pregnant. It's unavoidable. As long as your eating healthy it won't be that bad."

Amy rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "Go to your meeting before I punch you."

"Later sweetie," he practically sang as he finally walked out.

Amy rolled her eyes again but couldn't stop the one sided smile from spreading, it was a really good thing she loved that man or he would've been flat on his back. The dang pregnancy hormones sure had her feeling all wonky.

The rest of the week was uneventful, with each day starting with Amy getting sick and ending with her falling into bed and passing out by eight-thirty. Friday morning was a little rough. Her usual morning sickness combined with some anxiety over her first official OB appointment and another ultrasound to see just how many babies they were having was making her a little more nauseous. She skipped her workout, since she was still sitting on the bathroom floor at a quarter to seven.

Ranger stepped out of the shower and dried off. Instead of heading to the closet he tied his towel around his waist and leaned back against the bathroom counter. "Why don't you just stay home? I'll come pick you up at ten forty and we can head across town for your eleven-fifteen appointment."

"I don't need to stay home. I can sit at my desk and feel sick for a few hours and at least try to be useful there."

"Nope," he reached for her hand and helped her up then walked her back to their bed. After he'd literally fluffed her pillows under her head and tucked her back in with the TV remote on her night stand, he stood back and smiled approvingly. "You stay there." Ranger kept talking as he went to the closet to get dressed. "We'll need to start getting someone trained to fill in for you while your on maternity leave anyways, so take today off. Do you want Brent or Tess to take over for you today?"

"I guess have Brent do it today. I'll have Tess fill in the next time I need to take a day." Amy rolled to her side so she could watch Ranger as he walked out of the closet.

"Sounds good." Ranger said as he walked out of the closet adjusting his belt. He smiled when he noticed her watching him. "Don't look at me like that or Lex will end up late to school and I'll end up staying home with you."

"You could take her to school then come back here."

"Then we'd never make it to your appointment." Ranger teased. "I'm going to go get Lex up, I'll send her in to you for her hair though because that's one thing I have no idea how to do." He walked around to her side of the bed and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll bring up a bottle of water and some snacks in a little bit. Just rest."

Ten minutes later Lexi came in dressed in a pair of jeans and a pink long-sleeve shirt. She held her hair brush in one hand and a little elastic hair tie in the other. "Can you do one braid, please?"

"Sure thing baby girl." Amy sat up and patted the bed right in front of her.

"Carlos said you aren't feeling well." Lexi said as she sat perfectly still for Amy.

"Yeah baby, I've got a stomach bug. But I'll be fine." Amy felt bad now not telling Lexi about the pregnancy. She would have to talk to Ranger about including Lexi in the secret sooner rather than later. She finished up the braid and Lexi scooted off the bed.

"Thanks mom."

"Your welcome baby." Amy smiled.

"Carlos told me to tell you to lay down and relax. I think he's going to bring you some breakfast." Lexi headed to the door.

Amy chuckled and shook her head. That man sure was bossy.

Fifteen minutes later Ranger walked in with a large plate that had a small bowl of yogurt and fruit, a couple of pieces of toast, and some scrambled eggs.

"I wasn't sure what you would be in the mood for. Eat whatever you can, leave the plate on the bench at the foot of the bed. I'll take care of it when I come back later." He sat down on the edge of the bed at her hip and put a hand on her stomach. "I think there's going to be three."

"At this point, I just want them all to be healthy." She put her hand over his, "I think we should tell Lexi tonight. I'm starting to feel kind of guilty not telling her until after the wedding."

"You're the one who said she can't keep a secret. I wanted to tell her after our last appointment." Ranger leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips against hers. "We'll tell her tonight. I'm sure if we tell her that she can only talk about the babies with us she'll understand."

Amy nodded then looked at the clock on the nighstand, "You'd better start getting Lexi ready to go. Make sure she has…"

"Hats and gloves for recess. Everything is already in her backpack." Ranger leaned forward and gave her another kiss, "I'll call you when I leave Rangeman, just in case you go back to sleep."

"I would say that won't happen, but there's a pretty good chance it will."

Ranger stood up and walked to the door, "You need the rest. I'll see you in a little bit sweetheart. Love you."

"Love you too." Amy smiled. As soon as she heard Ranger going down the stairs she snuggled back under the covers and drifted off.

The ringing of her phone woke her up, Amy jumped to a sitting position and looked at the alarm clock before answering her phone, it was ten fifteen. "Hello," She answered without looking at the caller ID knowing it was Ranger.

"Hey sweetie, still sleeping?" Ranger's voice sounded warm and comforting.

"Yeah," Amy yawned and got out of bed. "I'm headed into the bathroom right now. I'll take a quick shower. Are you leaving Rangeman?"

"Just on my way to the garage. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes." The ding of the elevator sounded through the phone. "Did you eat?"

Amy cringed as she reached into the shower and turned it on to warm the water, "No. I just slept. I feel pretty good now. I'll eat a banana and a protein bar on the way to the doctor's office."

Ranger let out an audible sigh but didn't comment on the subject. "See you soon sweetie."

"I love you." Amy said so sweetly that her teeth almost hurt.

"I love you, too." Ranger replied.

Amy washed and conditioned her hair as quickly as she could. She took a couple minutes to shave her legs before washing her face and then she shut off the water and quickly wrapped herself in a towel and grabbed another to wrap around her hair. She walked into the closet and dropped her towel in front of her dresser and pulled out a pair of basic black cotton panties and a black bra. She was just stepping into a pair of black leggings when she heard Flynn announce Ranger's arrival. She snagged a charcoal grey tunic and tugged the towel off her head then quickly pulled the shirt on.

Back in the bathroom, Amy grabbed the hair dryer to at least get her hair mostly dry before they left. At least it wouldn't be dripping wet, she could braid it in the car. Ranger walked in as she started drying her hair. He smiled and leaned against the doorway just watching her.

"I'm not drying it completely," she practically yelled over the sound of the hair dryer. "I just don't want it to be soaking wet."

"It's fine," he replied. "We've got time yet."

Amy nodded and kept drying. After ten minutes she finally turned it off, her hair was still a little damp but not too bad. She combed it over one shoulder with a wide-toothed comb then flipped it back behind her shoulder to do her make-up.

"Two more minutes, I swear." She said as she quickly brushed some powder over her whole face then grabbed her eye liner.

"No rush, we still have about ten minutes."

"How were your meetings this morning?" Amy asked as she finished lining one eye and moved to the other.

"There was nothing important. No potential new clients today. Tank and I interviewed the first few people to fill the vacancies we have in general security right now. We also talked about hiring a few more programmers, but we want to discuss that more with you sometime next week."

"My team has been doing great, do you feel like we're not keeping up with the demand?" Amy knew that although they were engaged, Ranger had always trusted her to run her department and manage her people as she saw fit without stepping in until it was absolutely necessary. So it was usually her going to Ranger and Tank and asking for a bigger budget for new employees, not them going to her.

"No," he quickly answered. "It isn't that at all. I just felt that with you needing more time off next summer it wouldn't hurt to have a couple of extras to help fill in."

Amy finished her makeup and went back to the closet for shoes, she came back out a minute later when she realized her black flats were already downstairs.

"I'm ready," she motioned for him to go. After he moved out of her way she headed for the stairs with Ranger on her heels. "Your acting like I'll never go back to work." Amy said as she went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water and an apple. She turned to look at Ranger, "I love my job, I'm not planning on quitting."

"You won't have to quit if you don't want to. We'll hire a nanny. But with you having multiples there's a higher chance of you being put on bed rest." Ranger followed her into the mud room where she slipped on her black flats and went out to the garage where Ranger's Porche was parked. Ranger got in the driver's seat and once they were both in and had seatbelts on he backed out. "I just don't want you to feel like you have to rush back to work once the babies are six months. You can work part-time for a while if you want to. We'll make it work, however you want to do it. I just want to make sure that we have the staff to cover everything."

Amy nodded as she chewed a bite of apple. "Understandable. But what did you tell Tank about needing more programmers?"

"I lied," he shrugged a shoulder. "I told him that you said that you guys were starting to get a little overwhelmed and would need some help. Which technically isn't completely untrue since we usually pick up a few more new clients in December and January than in most other months."

"That is true." She admitted. "So your predicting three babies on the ultrasound today?"

Ranger nodded and reached over to grab her hand. "Three boys."

"Oh good Lord help us all, three little Carlos' running around." Amy teased.

Ranger pretended to look hurt and offended. "What would be so bad about having three boys?"

Amy laughed, "Oh I'm teasing you. I have a daughter, you have a daughter, I think a couple of boys would be fun. But like I said, I really don't care what we have. My concern is just that we have healthy babies."

"I completely agree." Ranger said. "We'll have to start talking names. We may as well start making lists now. With more than one baby to name, I get the feeling that naming is going to be a lot harder."

"Probably." Amy admitted as she chewed the last bite of her apple. She pushed the button to lower her window a little and tossed the core out, then put the window back up.

About ten minutes later they pulled into the doctor's office parking lot. They walked in and checked in then sat and waited to get called back. Thankfully they didn't have to wait long. Nurse Gina called them back, and unlike her previous appointments they asked for a urine sample, took her blood pressure, drew some blood, and then finally took her to the ultrasound room.

"We're here again." Amy said as she sat on the table.

Gina smiled, "And just like I promised last time, we're doing a regular ultrasound today. So just lay back, pull your shirt up a little and then if you can shimmy the waist of your pants down your hips a little bit."

Amy did as she asked, as soon as Gina squirted some gel on her lower belly Ranger took her hand in his as they both were glued to the screen.

"Alrighty, so here is baby A. He, again I say that generically since I have no idea what baby is yet. He is measuring right on at eight weeks, you can actually see the heart beating and let's have a listen," she pushed a button and that amazing comforting sound filled the room, Amy would never forget how amazing that sound was.

"Heart rate is about 153, perfect! Now let's see how baby B is doing." Gina moved the wand and found baby B with no problem. "Baby B is also measuring right on at eight weeks. But remember that multiples often don't always measure the same, and that's perfectly fine. Here's his little heart beating and let's listen to him too."

That thudding sound filled the room again, "Heart rate is 147, perfect! You have two perfect babies! Now Dr. Sayre thought there was a possible third last time, so let's have a look." Gina moved the wand around Amy's stomach and zoomed out a bit. They could see their two babies plain as day, and off to the left of baby B there was still that little fluid sac. Gina grabbed her phone and called in Dr. Sayre just as she zoomed in to get a closer look. "Well folks, there is definitely a sac and today it looks like there's a baby, but it's quite a bit smaller."

Dr. Sayre walked in then and after a quick glance at the ultrasound screen she skipped greeting Amy and Ranger and nudged Gina aside. "Okay mom and dad, so it looks like there is a baby C."

"I just said that, but it's measuring behind." Gina said quietly, even though Ranger and Amy could hear her.

"So, there is still every possibility that baby C could be fine. We can't really know that yet because it's so early. For now we're going to treat this as a triplet pregnancy. I want you to come in for weekly ultrasounds so we can monitor baby C and see if it's growing or not." Dr. Sayre zoomed in a little more so that all they could see was the sac and little blob that was now officially baby C. "I think," she whispered then she smiled just as Ranger and Amy saw the little flicker, "There is a heartbeat, about 135. A little on the low side but it's strong. Let's see if we can hear this little guy's heartbeat." Dr. Sayre pushed a button and for the third time the room filled with that amazing thudding sound.

Amy cried, she brought Ranger's hand up to her chest and smiled as the tears rolled down her cheeks. "There's really three?" She barely managed to choke out.

Dr. Sayre smiled and reached for and squeezed Amy's arm. "Yes, there's really three. Seeing and hearing the heartbeat is a really good sign. He's still measuring behind by about eight or nine days. Sometimes women ovulate more than one egg at different times, which could be the case here."

Ranger finally found his voice, "So what does this mean? What changes?"

"You'll see a lot more of me, for starters. I want to see you every week for the next few weeks until we can get a clearer picture of baby C and make sure everything is okay. After that I'll see you every two weeks with ultrasounds once a month unless we run into complications. Our first goal is to make it to twenty-four weeks, that's when the babies will officially be viable. With triplets, we want you to make it to thirty-four weeks."

"Wow," Amy whispered. "This just got intense. So if I make it to thirty-four weeks, then what?"

"Anything over that is great, it decreases the chances that the babies will have to be in the NICU."

Amy nodded.

"So does she need to take it easy from now on?" Of course Ranger was trying to keep Amy from working.

"No," Dr. Sayre gave Amy a look of total sympathy then smiled at Ranger. "For now everything is fine. We'll evaluate the need for any restrictions or possible bed rest later as the babies get bigger. Of course a triplet pregnancy is a lot different but Amy carried her first baby with no problems or complications. So our hope is that she can make it to thirty-four weeks with no major problems. Of course the odds are pretty good that you will end up on bed rest in the bit of your pregnancy." Dr. Sayre stood up and let Gina take her seat back. "But like I said, we'll address that possibility later. Anything else?"

"No," Amy answered quickly before Ranger could speak up.

"Just one more," Ranger said before Dr. Sayre could make it to the door. "If she were to go to working part-time now would that help her?"

Dr. Sayre seemed to finally realize just how insanely protective, irrational, and crazy Ranger was as she paused before answering. "No, it wouldn't. The early part of the pregnancy will be fine because there isn't as much stress on Amy's body now as there will be later. For now, she needs to continue on as she has been. Sticking with her normal activities will actually help her more later in the pregnancy. You guys will see enough of me that if any little thing pops up we'll be able to evaluate and address it and make changes if we need to. For now, just keep on as you have been. Now I'm going to go, but Gina will get you some new pictures. I'll see you again in a week."

Gina managed to capture a picture of all three babies in one frame. She gave Amy a new stack of pictures and rubbed her back as she walked them out of the room. Amy was going to be getting sympathy from everyone in this office by the time these babies were born. They made their appointment for the next week and walked out.

It wasn't until they were sitting in the car the Ranger finally turned to Amy and just smiled, it was a huge ear-to-ear cheek-splitting grin. He leaned over the center console and crushed Amy in a huge hug. "Three." He whispered in her ear, "We're having three babies!" Then he did something that Amy never thought she would ever hear him do, she pulled back to look at his face and watched as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Why now?" she asked as she smiled and started crying, again. "We've known I was pregnant for four weeks, why tears now?"

"I don't know," he whispered. "Maybe because now we know for sure that there's three. I don't know. I really did mean it this morning though when I told you that I had a feeling it was three boys. We now know there are three babies. Maybe they are boys."

Amy shook her head, "They will be the three luckiest boys in the world with you as their dad."

Ranger hugged her again then wiped his tears with the sleeve of his shirt and started the car. "Let's go home. I want to just lay in bed and rest my head on your stomach so I can start talking to my boys. Don't they say they can hear you talking?"

Amy nodded, "It might be a little early, but yes, later in pregnancy they recommend talking to the baby so it knows your voice."

"Well they are definitely going to know my voice."

"That's good."

Ranger backed out of the parking spot and pulled out of the lot onto the road. "We should go get Lexi now and surprise her."

"No, let's surprise her when she gets home from school."

Ranger nodded, "I've got just the idea."

Amy tilted her head and looked at him, "What is going on in that head of yours now?"

He didn't answer, just kept smiling. Ten minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of a party store. He bought balloons, confetti, streamers, and candy-all in light pink and light blue. He also bought some poster board and stickers. Amy was pretty sure he'd lost it, but he assured her he had a plan.

They pulled into the garage twenty minutes later and Ranger immediately went to work. He put the candy in a bowl, then started taping streamers to the trim on the doorways going into the living room and attaching the other end to the light fixtures that were roughly right in the middle of the living room. The balloons were blown up and tied off and he threw them around. Then on the poster board he wrote out 'Guess Who Is Going To Be A Big Sister?'

"You amaze me." Amy said to him an hour later as they sat at the kitchen island eating the chopped salad with chicken Ranger had made for them.

"Why?"

Amy pointed toward the living room, "Lexi is going to freak over that when she gets home. I never would've thought of that. I probably would have gotten some cupcakes or something. But that is so much more fun."

Ranger shrugged, "I want this to be something fun for her. Plus she's probably going to really go nuts when she finds out there's three."

Amy nodded. She finished up her salad and took her plate to the sink to rinse then put it in the dishwasher. She turned around and leaned back against the sink, "This is going to sound dumb, but I think I'm going to go take a nap."

"Why is that dumb?"

"I slept until after ten this morning. Now a couple hours later I'm ready for a nap."

"Your growing three babies, I would think that would be pretty tiring." Ranger smiled as he rinsed his plate and put in the dishwasher next to hers. He grabbed her hands and pulled her into him. Dropping a kiss on the top of her head he hugged her to him. "Go nap, I'll hold down the fort."

"Wake me up at three so we can be ready for when Lex gets home."

"Don't we need to go get her?" He asked.

"No," Amy said as she started up the stairs. "Emma's mom is dropping her off because she's off early some Friday's. I'm guessing that she'll end up asking to go over for the night as soon as she gets home."

"Okay," was all Ranger could say before Amy was up the stairs and out of sight. He went straight to the office to call Tank. They were going to have to make some major adjustments with the programming department so that Amy could have a flexible schedule. She didn't know it yet, but he was going to have her working part-time by the wedding.


	16. Chapter 16

I'm sorry, my writing mojo took a vacation. At first I thought it was just because I've been reading a lot lately, then I found out at the end of January that I'm pregnant! So yeah, I promise I'm really trying not to neglect my writing, but pregnancy brain is real and I struggle a lot with concentration when I'm pregnant. This is going to be a short chapter. But I promise I'm busy writing like crazy now that my muse is back. :)

Chapter 16

Amy was practically bouncing in her seat, waiting for Lexi to get home from school. When she finally heard the handle on the front door jiggle she jumped up and clasped her hands together. Lexi walked in and set her backpack down, as she carefully looked around the room. There were pink and blue balloons spread all over the floor, streamers strung from the light to the doorways and dangling down in places. Then Lexi finally fixed on the sign that Ranger had made.

"I'm going to be a big sister…" Lexi slowly read out loud. When it registered what she'd read and repeated out loud she looked to her mom. "Really?! I am?!"

Amy was holding back tears as she nodded, "Yeah baby, you are!"

Ranger put an arm around Amy, "Would you like to see a picture?" He asked Lexi.

"Uh hu!" Lexi bounced over to Amy and Ranger, throwing her arms wide around both their waists.

"Here girly," Ranger handed her the ultrasound picture that had all three babies in one frame.

Lexi held it and carefully examined in for at least a minute before she shot a confused look at her mom.

Amy chuckled but Ranger explained before she could find her voice. "There are three babies," he pointed them out counting as he went. "So you'll have three little brothers and/or sisters."

"I want little sisters! Can you make them be girls?"

Ranger laughed, "That's not quite how it works." Ranger patted Lexi's shoulder. "We don't know yet what they are, but we have no way to pick that. You'll just have to wait and see what we're having when they're born."

"Lex," Amy squeezed her shoulder, "Do you think you can keep this a secret until after Thanksgiving? We want to try to keep this news a secret for just a little while."

Lexi shrugged, "I guess I can. But can I tell Emma?!"

"No baby I'm sorry. Not quite yet." Amy felt bad as she watched Lexi's face go from an ear-to-ear smile then quickly transform to a frown. "We know your excited about the babies, but we want to make the announcement special for everyone. So we're going to send out Christmas cards telling everyone, okay?"

"Okay." Lexi stood up, "Can't you find out what they are before they're born, like Emma's mom?"

"Well honey, we could. But Carlos and I talked about it and we thought it might be fun surprise if we wait until they're born."

"But how will you know what clothes to buy?"

Ranger answered. "Maybe we'll have a big party, kind of like a baby shower, after the babies are born. We haven't really talked about that yet."

Lexi nodded. "Can I stay at Emma's tonight?"

"Sure sweetie, or she can stay here. We can rent a movie and make Carlos go get us some Chinese food for dinner."

Lexi turned her head to the side and pursed her lips before finally answering, "Noooo, Emma has a crayon maker and we're going to break up her old crayons to make new ones with lots of different colors!"

Amy chuckled and smiled, "Okay. I'll call Emma's mom in a."

Half an hour later Amy and Ranger had dropped Lexi off at Emma's and were headed to pick up their Chinese takeout.

"If you keep having these kinds of pregnancy cravings, I'm going to need to spend more time in the gym." Ranger teased as they drove away from Barb's house.

"You've been running at least seven or eight miles every morning, I know it was ten this morning."

"How do you know how many miles I run?" Ranger said teasingly as he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes for a second then looked back to the road.

"I look at your watch while you're in the shower." Amy admitted without hesitation.

"Snooping while I'm in the shower huh?" Ranger teased.

"It just gives me something to help get my mind off the fact that I want to hurl." Amy admitted.

"Fair enough." Ranger smiled. "You seem like you've been doing okay at work this week."

Amy nodded. "I've been avoiding the break room. There's usually too many strange smells in there."

"The RSVP's have started coming in from my family for the wedding. Have you heard from your dad and stepmom or your brother?"

"Yeah," Amy nodded. "Dad and Carrie are super excited and said they wouldn't miss it, I think most of the kids are coming with them. When I talked to dad I told him that he and Carrie and the kids can have the apartment above the garage. Jackson and his wife will be coming for sure, but he said they wouldn't impose on us and insisted on staying at a hotel. I told him we would leave a bedroom open for them just in case."

Ranger nodded, his eyes never leaving the road. "My parents don't want to stay at our place either, Elisa and her husband and kids always stay at my parents house when they come home so they'll be staying there."

"Has anyone seemed suspicious about the dinner?"

"No," Ranger shook his head "So far no one has said anything or asked anything. We already told everyone that the wedding wouldn't be until next summer so I'm pretty sure we'll have them all completely surprised the day of." Ranger pulled up to their favorite Chinese takeout. "I'll run in, you wait here."

Five minutes later Ranger was back and Amy had the takeout bag on the floor between her feet. "When do we need to get our marriage license?"

"I've got the paperwork in the office at home. We need to fill it out and take it in to sign it in front of the registrar so they can notarize it then it'll take about a week or two to get the official license that we'll sign that day. We have a couple more weeks before we need to get that done."

Amy nodded, "When do we need the final count for the caterer?"

"We've got a couple more weeks for that as well." Ranger reached across the center console and took Amy's hand firmly in his. "I promise we are on top of everything."

Amy laughed, "You mean you're on top of everything?" She smiled at Ranger as he tossed her a quick glance before looking back to the road. "So far all I've done is given you RSVP's from my family, picked the food and desserts I want, and helped make decisions about the house. You arranged all of the actual details of the wedding and are in charge of the whole house remodel."

"You took care of your dress, and Lexi's dress. You also picked the flowers." Ranger squeezed her hand reassuringly. "You've done more than you think you have. Plus the house is for us, for our family, of course I want your input and your choices and tastes to be reflected in our home."

They rode the rest of the way home in a comfortable silence. Their evening was quiet, enjoying their Chinese take out and Ranger indulging Amy by watching her favorite movie Dirty Dancing.

Another week passed by with no major changes. Amy continued dealing with morning sickness and decided to switch from her usual morning workouts to doing a lighter routine at the Rangeman gym before lunch. Ranger gave Bobby a monetary incentive to get a few more guys working on the house to make sure it would all be done in time for the wedding. Bobby promised it would all be completely finished and ready for them to move in to two weekends before the wedding.

Monday came and as soon as Lexi got home from school she raced to her room.

"Lex!" Amy yelled after her, "Why the rush?"

"Mooooom, did you forget what today is?!" Lexi yelled as she continued up the stairs.

Amy followed, at a much slower pace, and walked into Lexi's room as she was stripping out of her school clothes. "What is today Lex?"

"Ughhhh!" Lexi groaned, "It's Halloween! Tonight is trick or treat night!"

"Okay, I did remember that sweetie. But you know it's only a little before four, right? Trick or treat doesn't start until five-thirty." Amy was leaning in the doorway smiling as Lexi started pulling on her Rapunzel costume.

"Lex, it's a little chilly so you'll want to put a sweatshirt and some leggings on under your dress." Amy watched as Lexi started pulling out warmer clothes. "But you really don't need to get dressed now. You'll just end up sitting around in your costume until it's time to go." She knew that Lexi was just really excited about putting on her costume again, but the poor girl was going to sweat to death before they even left the house.

"But you have to help me paint my nails, and you said that you would help put the wig on." Lexi lamented as she pulled her sweatshirt on over her long-sleeve shirt. "Is Carlos going to go trick or treating with us?"

"Yeah baby, he said he'd be home by five."

Lexi gave Amy a worried look, "Are you sure he'll be home?"

"If Carlos said that he'd be here, he'll be here. Do you want a snack before you get everything on?"

"No thanks mom." Lexi said as she started pulling her dress on.

"I'll be downstairs then sweetie." Amy smiled as she started back down to the living room. She picked her phone up off the side table by the couch and instantly sent a text to Carlos.

A: Lex is freaking out about being ready to go trick or treating on time, when

will you be home?

Ranger replied a few minutes later.

R: I'm leaving in fifteen minutes. Is there a problem?

A: No, she's just turned into a diva today.

R: I think I'm going to be late then.

A: NO! You need to come home, the sooner the better. She's worried you

won't be home in time to go with us.

R: I'll be home in about half an hour.

A: Thank God! Love you!

R: Love you

Ranger walked in the door from the garage about thirty-five minutes later. Amy was sitting on the couch with Lexi standing in front of her getting her wig pinned on.

"Hey there Lexi-girl! Oh, I mean Rapunzel!" Ranger corrected as he walked into the living room.

"Carlos!" She gave him a huge ear-to-ear smile. "I'm almost ready to go trick or treating!"

"That's great! But you know that we still have almost an hour before it's time to go, right?"

Lexi's eyes dropped to the floor and her cheeks flushed a little, "I know. But I'm excited to go."

Amy looked at Carlos, who had sat down on the chair closest to the couch, and tipped her head to the side a little as she watched him smiling as he talked to her. Somehow she had found this amazing man to not only be with her for the rest of her life but to stand in and choose to be an amazing father to her daughter.

"Mom," Lexi said and snapped Amy out of her trance.

"I'm sorry baby, what did you say?"

"Can you let go of my wig? Carlos is going to make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before we go trick or treating."

Amy immediately released her hold on Lexi's long braided Rapunzel wig, "Sorry Lex, yeah a sandwich would be good before you eat a lot of candy. Let's go." Amy got up and followed Carlos and Lexi to the kitchen.

Lexi had a fantastic time trick or treating, and brought home a huge bag full of candy and treats. She tried her best to get Amy and Carlos to let her eat more than just a few pieces of candy. After she went to bed Amy had to spend a lot of time talking Carlos out of throwing the whole bag of candy away.

Wednesday morning, November second, Amy woke up much the same as usual. But after her morning sickness had passed the stomach cramps started. By the time Carlos got back from his morning run he was surprised to find Amy still sitting on the bathroom floor a little after seven.

"Hey sweetie," Carlos leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Bad morning?"

Amy lifted her head and Carlos dropped to his knees in front of her when he saw her tear-filled eyes, "I think…" she threw herself into his chest and started sobbing.

"Amy, what's going on? Talk to me. Are you bleeding?"

"I don't know. I started cramping and it hurts. I'm afraid to check."

Carlos hugged her to him a little tighter for a few moments before grabbing her shoulders and holding her away from him, "I'm going to jump in the shower really quick, you check to see if your bleeding and we'll go from there, okay?"

Amy nodded and let Carlos help her stand up. She waited until Carlos was in the shower before finally mustering the courage to check her panties. There was blood.

"Carlos!" She stood back up in nothing but her panties and sleep tank and froze in place.

"Are you bleeding?" He yelled from the shower.

"Yes!" Amy started to cry again.

"Okay baby, go to the closet and get yourself some clean panties and some comfortable clothes. I'll be done in thirty seconds."

"I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"I can't move. I'm scared."

There was a pause, "Baby I know your scared, just hang in there. I'm almost done."

Less than fifteen seconds later the shower turned off and Carlos stepped out and quickly toweled off and walked into the closet naked.

"Mom!" Amy panicked when she heard Lexi in their bedroom.

"Hey Lex, are you dressed for school?"

"Yeah, are you guys going to come down for breakfast?" Lexi stood just outside the bathroom doorway. "Mom, are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah Lexi. Just go downstairs, Carlos will be down to get your breakfast okay?" Amy tried her best to put on a half smile.

Just as Lexi left their bedroom Carlos stepped out of the closet. "I called Tank, he's going to come over to take Lexi to school. Here," he handed her a pair of black panties. "I'm going to set these leggings and a shirt on the counter. Get changed and dressed, and I'll run down and get Lexi some breakfast." He kissed her on the forehead then lowered a little so he was looking into her eyes. "It could be anything. Don't panic yet. We'll go in and get you checked out, okay?"

Amy nodded, "Our boys," she put her hands on still mostly flat stomach.

Ranger put his hand over hers, "We don't know anything yet. Just try to stay calm. I'll be back up in a little bit to check on you, okay?"

Amy nodded again. She moved, because she knew Carlos wouldn't leave until she did. After cleaning herself up and putting a pad in her underwear she got dressed and pulled her long hair up into a very messy top knot. A quick glance in the mirror showed that she looked terrible, but she was beyond caring. She slowly walked down the stairs to join Carlos and Lexi in the kitchen. He'd already made her a couple pieces of plain buttered toast.

"Tank should be here in five minutes." Carlos said as he grabbed a couple of bottles of water out of the fridge.

"Why is Tank taking me to school?" Lexi asked.

Amy shot a quick glance to Carlos to see him shake his head once, indicating he hadn't said anything, before turning to Lexi. "We just have an appointment to go to and we won't make it on time if we take you to school so Tank is helping us out. Is that okay?"

Lexi nodded, "I like Tank, he's funny."

Amy gave her daughter as much of a smile as she could, "He is funny." She went back to her toast and tried to eat but only ate about half a slice.

There was a knock on the front door a few minutes later. Lexi happily went on her way with Tank. As soon as she was gone Carlos and Amy headed to the garage.

"Can you call the OB's office? They have someone on-call 24/7 don't they?" Carlos asked as he backed out of the driveway.

"Yes," Amy said as she pulled out her phone.

"Are you okay calling or would you rather I did it?"

"I think I can do it." She dialed the office and after pressing the right number she was connected with a nurse. "This is Amy Kendrick, I'm almost ten weeks pregnant with triplets and having some cramping and bleeding. What do we need to do?"

Carlos sat and listened to Amy talking on the phone, she was trying so hard not to break down and cry. After a few minutes, that seemed a lot longer, Amy ended the call.

"So?" He asked.

"Go to the hospital. Dr. Sayre is on-call there right now and the nurse is going to let her know we're on our way in. She said she couldn't diagnose anything over the phone without seeing me but that Dr. Sayre will be waiting for us at the ER entrance to take us up to maternity triage."

Carlos nodded. The twenty-five minute drive seemed to take longer, both of them putting off enough nervous energy to fuel the car. Every few minutes Carlos would squeeze Amy's hand reassuringly, while her other hand never left her stomach. At every stop light Carlos would look over at Amy as he pulled their hands to his mouth and kissed the back of hers. They both let out a long breath when he finally parked in the emergency parking lot of the hospital.

Just as the nurse had said, Dr. Sayre was waiting just inside the doors for them and rushed them through admitting and up to maternity. A triage room was ready and waiting for them with an ultrasound machine already set up.

"Okay guys, Amy strip down completely and put on the gown that's on the bed. We'll do a pelvic exam and an ultrasound."

"I had to put a pad on…"

Dr. Sayre nodded, "There's a bed pad for you to sit on, just sit at the end of the bed. We've got you covered." She backed toward the door, "I'll be right outside the door so just holler when you're ready, okay?"

"Okay," Amy said quietly. She stripped down as quickly as she could and sat on the bed.

"We're good," Ranger called out.

Dr. Sayre rushed in and sat on the stool on the side of the bed with the ultrasound machine. "Dad, you okay staying for a pelvic exam?"

Carlos nodded, "I'm good."

Amy shot him an appreciative look before turning back to the doctor.

"Okay Amy, just lay all the way back. There you go," Dr. Sayre gave her instructions to bring her knees up to her bum while she put on a pair of gloves. "This is going to be really quick, I just need to see if your cervix is open or not." After doing a quick visual check Dr. Sayre told her to put her feet back down. "Okay, your cervix does seem to be dilated a centimeter or two. So I'm going to do an ultrasound and check on the babies. So put this blanket over your legs and we'll pull up the gown, okay?"

Amy nodded and did as instructed. She and Carlos watched the screen carefully while Dr. Sayre started the ultrasound. They both saw Baby A and Baby B right away but waited while Dr. Sayre did some looking around and measuring.

"Okay mom and dad, here is Baby A. It's measuring at about 9 weeks and 6 days, so a little big and here, is the heartbeat." The room filled with that amazing thudding sound and Amy smiled as the tears fell and she let out the breath she'd been holding. "Heart rate is 154, which is great."

"So he's okay?" Amy asked.

Dr. Sayre nodded. "Yes, Baby A looks to be doing great. Now on to Baby B, he's measuring at 9 weeks and 3 days, which is perfect. The heart rate for him is 166, which is also great. Let's take a listen." Ranger let out a long breath and squeezed Amy's hand as they listened to their baby's heartbeat.

"Now, where is Baby C?" Dr. Sayre moved the probe around and Amy noticed her eyebrows were kind of furrowed. "I'm really sorry to say, it looks like you've miscarried Baby C. Now, before you panic, the other two babies look fantastic and have strong heartbeats so try to stay calm. If I remember right, Baby C was a little smaller than the other two, correct?"

Amy nodded while Ranger answered, "Yes, he was."

"It's hard saying what happened, there could be any number of reasons for one baby to miscarry and not the others but it's actually a bit more common than people think with multiples. He could have just not implanted well, or there could have been some genetic or chromosomal abnormality that caused problems. We'll never know for sure. But you still have two very healthy-looking babies in there so try not to worry."

Ranger handed Amy a tissue as Dr. Sayre cleaned the ultrasound gel off of Amy's stomach.

"Before you ask Carlos, Amy I want you to go home and get in bed. Try to rest and relax. I want you on bed rest, just for now until the bleeding stops and we can make sure A and B are staying healthy. No sex or vaginal penetration, so only use pads, no tampons. A little off topic, do you have any nicknames for the babies yet? Saying Baby A and Baby B is kind of generic, some parents like to have funny nicknames."

Amy found herself giving a short laugh through her tears. "We haven't talked about names much yet."

"Calvin and Hobbes?" Ranger asked Amy.

Dr. Sayre laughed, "That's a good one!"

Amy couldn't help but laugh too, "Sure honey, if that's what you want to call them."

"Back to your instructions, you're scheduled to come in Friday morning, right?"

"Yes," Amy confirmed.

"Okay, so I'll see you for your scheduled appointment Friday and we'll do another ultrasound then to check on Calvin and Hobbes. If your cramping worsens, your bleeding gets heavier or you have any gushes of blood or fluid call the office number again. We always have a nurse on-call to answer the line and tell you what you need to do. Drink plenty of fluids. It didn't look to me like your bleeding really heavily, how long did you have the pad on before you got here?"

"Maybe forty-five minutes." Amy replied.

Dr. Sayre nodded as she typed away in her computer putting the information into Amy's file. "I'll give you some printed out instructions and guidelines with your discharge paperwork in case you forget anything." She closed her laptop and looked between Carlos and Amy. "Any questions?"

"Not that I can think of." Amy said.

"Dad?"

Carlos shook his head, "I think we're okay."

"Okay," Dr. Sayre stood up, "Take your time getting dressed. There are pad in one of the drawers in the bathroom Amy. Come out to the desk and we'll have you sign the paperwork so you can get out of here."

One Dr. Sayre had left and closed the door Amy put both hands over her face and just cried.

"Hey," Carlos whispered as he pulled one of her hands into his. "Sweetie, it's going to be okay. We still have two babies, and they are doing great. So we'll go home and I'll snuggle in bed with you. You've got me to wait on you for the foreseeable future."

Amy nodded. "I feel bad, well, I don't really know how to feel right now. I'm upset that we lost one baby, but I'm also happy that we have two babies who are doing well."

Carlos stood up and pulled both of Amy's hands to help her sit up. "I know honey, I hate that we lost a baby. It makes those other two little ones that much more amazing." He leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Do you want help getting dressed?"

"No, I think I can manage." Amy answered as she finally stood up and went into the bathroom.

She emerged a few minutes later and they walked out to the nurses desk to sign their paperwork and head back home. Dr. Sayre was waiting for them.

"Last chance, any questions?"

"No," Amy smiled, she appreciated that Dr. Sayre was great at dealing with difficult situations. "I think we'll be okay."

"You'll be fine. I'll see you guys Friday."

Amy waved and followed Carlos out to the elevator.

"Well," she said as the stepped into the elevator, "You've got your wish now."

"What wish is that?"

"I'm on bedrest and under strict instructions to do nothing. Have you hired a nurse yet?" Amy teased.

"Nope, you're stuck with me." Carlos winked at her.

"You can't stay home with me, what will you tell everyone at work?"

"That I'm the boss?" Carlos quipped. "Do you still have your appendix?"

"Your terrible," Amy teased as the elevator arrived on the first floor and they walked out. "Your going to tell everyone I had to have my appendix out, aren't you?"

"Maybe. Unless you can think of a better reason for you to have to miss work for a couple weeks and for me to take care of you and work from home."

"Tell everyone whatever you want, just make sure you let me know what I supposedly have so I know what to tell people." Amy sighed then let out a big yawn.

"Tired?" Carlos asked just as they got to the car.

"Very, it's been a bit of an emotionally trying morning. Being pregnant isn't helping." Amy got in the car, as soon as she had her seatbelt on she adjusted her seat to recline a bit and closed her eyes. She'd only intended to rest a bit but she actually had fallen asleep on the drive home. Carlos took full advantage and carried her into the house and upstairs to bed. Amy let him take off her shoes and literally tuck her in.

"Do you need anything?" Carlos asked.

"No, I'm just going to go back to sleep." Amy yawned.

"Good, rest. I'll be down in the office, so just text me if you need anything. Your phone is on the nightstand." He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss before straightening.

Amy nodded and was already half asleep by the time he left the room.


	17. Chapter 17

**Wow, does it ever feel great to be writing again! Yay! Thanks to everyone for sticking it out while I was on an unexpected hiatus. I hope your all enjoying the story!**

 **Update-Baby #5 made her appearance two months ago and is doing great! I really struggled to keep writing while I was pregnant, but now my mojo is back and I'm finally back to working on my story!**

 **Chapter 17**

"Sweetie," Carlos rubbed Amy's shoulder as she slept soundly on her side. She didn't move, so he rubbed her shoulder a little harder. Amy finally started to move a little so he leaned down and kissed the side of her head.

Amy groaned, she didn't want to get out of bed. She cracked open one eye and looked at Carlos leaning over her looking extremely too hot for his own good. "Time is it?" she mumbled.

"It's almost one, I didn't want to wake you but you haven't eaten since your half a piece of toast for breakfast. What can I make you?"

Amy closed her eye and let out a breath, "You know, a BLT sounds kind of amazing right now."

"I'll make you a BLT, with real bacon, if you agree to eat some fruit with it." Ranger had tried in vain to get her eat Turkey bacon instead of regular bacon, but she just wouldn't give it up.

Amy opened her one eye again, "And some BBQ pop chips?"

Carlos's brow furrowed ever so slightly and sighed, "Fine. But you're stuck with what I make for dinner."

"As long as it doesn't make me hurl I'm good with that." Amy stretched her arms above her head and finally opened both eyes. "So what did you tell everyone at Rangeman about me missing work?"

"Instead of making up a fake surgery story, I told them that you fell trying to keep pace with me while we were running this morning and you sprained your ankle and have to rest for a few days and keep weight off it."

Amy nodded, "And what if I can't go back to work on Monday?"

"Then we'll say that you have a suspected ACL or MCL tear or something." Carlos said it like it wasn't a big deal to fake an injury.

"I hate to say it, but I don't think we're going to be able to keep this a secret until after the wedding."

"Maybe not." Carlos dropped his head down for a moment then looked back up at her. "What, when, and how do you want to talk to my parents?"

"Shit." Amy hissed. "I completely forgot that your mom knows we're pregnant." She closed her eyes and rubbed both hands over her face. "What do you want to do?" Carlos was silent for a few moments, causing Amy to put her hands down and open her eyes. "What?"

"I feel terrible now that we didn't tell her at the dinner that there might be three. I know she's going to be upset and devastated for us that we lost one, but I also know she'll be a little hurt that we hadn't told her."

"We didn't really know for sure how many there were then. I'm sure she'll understand."

Carlos nodded his head once, "Do you mind if I invite them down for dinner Friday night?"

"No," Amy paused for a couple seconds. "We have another ultrasound Friday morning so we'll hopefully have some new information for them."

"That's what I was thinking."

"Yeah, that'll be great."

Carlos stood up, "I'll go make your lunch then."

"Have you eaten yet?" Amy asked as she sat up and grabbed Carlos's pillows to prop up behind her on the headboard.

"Sorry, yeah. I had a salad about an hour ago."

"Okay" Amy grabbed the remote for the TV off her nightstand and started looking for something to watch. "Just don't forget my chips, please." She smiled a little too sweetly at him.

"I won't," he said as he walked out of their bedroom.

Carlos sat in bed with her while she ate her lunch. He left to get Lexi from school, only after making her swear she wouldn't get up for anything other than going to the bathroom. Carlos and Lexi walked into her bedroom a little before four. Lexi climbed right up onto the bed and quickly sidled up to Amy.

"Mom, why are you in bed?"

Amy threw a quick look to Carlos before turning to face Lexi. "Well honey, Carlos had to take me to the doctor today because there was something wrong with one of the babies. When we got there they were able to do an ultrasound to look at the babies and we found out that one of the babies died." Amy didn't even try to stop the tears from falling, Lexi was upset and Amy could tell she didn't understand what was going on. Amy stuttered, trying to talk through the emotions making it nearly impossible for her form coherent sentences. She did the only thing she could think to do and pulled Lexi into a hug.

"Lexi," Carlos said as he sat down next to Amy. "We don't know what happened or why one of the babies didn't make it. But it's important for you to know that the other two babies are still doing great. So your mom needs to take it easy and rest for a little while just to make sure everything is okay."

Lexi pulled back from her mom and nodded as she wiped her nose with the Kleenex Carlos gave her. "So could the other babies die too?"

Amy just about lost it but she grabbed Carlos' hand to stop him from talking. "Sweetie, like Carlos said, the other two babies are doing great. There is a small possibility that the same thing could happen to them, but that's why mom's going to be hanging out in bed for the next few days."

"Can I just stay in here with you?"

Amy smiled and leaned back against the headboard again taking Lexi with her. "Of course you can. In fact, why don't you go pick out some movies and we'll just lay in bed and watch movies for the rest of the afternoon. Okay?"

Lexi nodded and went downstairs. As soon as she was out of earshot Carlos leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to Amy's. "Everything will be okay."

Amy nodded, "I know."

"Do you want me to bring you gals up some snacks or anything?"

"Thank You, Carlos, really. I think we'll be fine."

"So you've finally stopped calling me Ranger," Carlos said with a slight smirk.

"I've called you Ranger for so long that calling you Carlos still seemed a bit weird. But when I realized that there was definitely something wrong this morning, Carlos was the first thing that came out of my mouth without even thinking about it."

"I like it." He admitted.

Amy smiled, "That's good, because now calling you Ranger feels weird."

Lexi sat in bed with Amy until supper, watching movies and snuggling together in bed. Amy and Lexi talked Carlos into letting them have a picnic on the bedroom floor. They ate lettuce salads with pan-seared salmon and roasted seasoned vegetables. Amy broke her bedrest orders for fifteen minutes to tuck Lexi into her bed and read a book to her. She walked back into her bedroom to find Carlos sitting in bed typing away on his laptop.

"Hey sweetheart," Carlos watched her walk over to her side of the bed and get back under the covers. "Everything okay?"

"I'm fine." Amy sighed as she sat up. "I've only been stuck at home for one day and I'm already bored out of my mind. I probably bought a dozen ebooks on my reader, I've read the first few chapters of all of them but can't seem to really get into them. Daytime TV is boring. I thought maybe Netflix would help so I signed up for that and ended up binge-watching most of the first season of Gilmore Girls." She shook her head. "I'm half afraid that by the time your parents get here Friday I'm going to end up scaring them by talking a mile a minute about useless nonsense from watching too many episodes of Gilmore Girls."

Carlos closed his laptop and set it on his nightstand before turning towards Amy. "Amy," he took her hand in his. "Sweetheart my parents practically worship the ground you walk on and your giving them two more grandchildren, they aren't going to care if you talk nonsense."

Amy gave a half laugh, "They are going to flip when we tell them we're having twins."

"If you think I'm crazy and overprotective, just wait until my mom finds out you've been put on bedrest. She'll probably try to move in here to take care of you." Carlos leaned down and gave Amy a light kiss, "And I'm not kidding." He added when Amy snorted.

"So have you decided what you're going to tell everyone at work?" She asked as she snuggled into his side.

"I still think a sprained ankle is the best bet for now. Unless you want to tell everyone the truth."

She shook her head, "No, I'm definitely not ready to tell everyone. So stick with the sprained ankle."

"Okay." Carlos turned the TV off and rearranged his pillows while Amy did the same with hers and turned her back to him so they could spoon. "Everything is going to be fine. Our two babies are still healthy and strong. Try to turn your brain off and just go to sleep."

"I know, I'm trying."

"I love you." Carlos kissed her right behind her ear.

"I love you too."

Thursday morning Amy woke up at six-thirty with Carlos, and had her usual bout of morning sickness. After brushing her teeth she trudged back to bed and groaned when Carlos brought her a glass of ice water and some crackers.

"Humor me." He said as he kissed her forehead then left for his morning run.

When Friday morning rolled around, Amy was very thankful to finally be able to get out of the house. Since moving to Jersey she'd never spent two full consecutive days stuck in her house and basically confined to her bed. Carlos had taken the whole bed rest recommendation from the OB as a mandate and hadn't even let her go downstairs. But Friday morning she was able to have breakfast in the kitchen with Lexi and Carlos like she usually did. Amy was just happy to feel somewhat normal.

In the waiting room at the OB Amy was nervously bouncing her knee. Carlos had tried getting her to calm down, but she couldn't seem to stop. It felt like a lifetime before they were called back for the ultrasound. Dr. Sayre was in the room with the technician when Carlos and Amy walked in.

"How is mom doing?" Dr. Sayre asked as Gina gave Amy the drape to put under the waistband of her pants and got the ultrasound started.

"Pretty nervous," Amy admitted. "The bleeding has pretty much stopped, just some spotting."

Dr. Sayre nodded, "That's a great sign." She turned to the screen as Gina was gently moving the ultrasound wand over Amy's stomach. "So your ten weeks now. And here's baby A." Clear as day they could see their baby wiggling, his arms and legs much more distinct now. "That's a great-looking baby there, and the heart rate is still great at 151." Gina printed off a couple pictures and moved over to baby B. "Another great-looking baby." Gina smiled at Amy and went back to pushing buttons and measuring. "Baby B looks pretty active too, and has a heart rate of 155." After a few more measurements Gina printed off a couple more pictures.

Everyone was quiet as Gina moved away from Baby B. After a couple of very quiet minutes and seeing nothing else on the screen Dr. Sayre finally turned toward Amy and Carlos.

"I don't see anything wrong with Baby A or Baby B, they both look great and as you could see they're moving like crazy. There's nothing visible left of Baby C. To play it safe, I would really like you to stay off your feet for another week and have you come back next Friday. If you have any more bleeding or cramping at all, call the office immediately. If it happens during office hours we'll see you immediately here, if it's after hours call us on your way to the ER. Now, any questions?"

Amy was sitting up after cleaning all the ultrasound gel off of her stomach and Carlos was holding her hand in his. Amy spoke first for once, "Have you ever dealt with a pregnancy similar to ours?"

"Not with triplets." Dr. Sayre answered quickly then paused. "I have seen it in twins a few times. In most of those cases, mom miscarries one baby before she knows its twins and mistakenly thinks she's lost a singleton pregnancy but goes back a few weeks later and finds out she's still pregnant and its too far along to have been conceived since the miscarriage. Judging by what we've seen, I feel that this is basically the same thing for you guys, except with triplets."

Amy nodded, "If the spotting stops and all seems normal next week, will I finally be able to get out of bed?" Amy hooked a thumb toward Carlos, "My loving fiance here has taken your bed rest suggestion very seriously and literally won't let me out of bed."

Dr. Sayre chuckled, "If there's no more spotting and everything looks good you can get out of bed, though the couch is fine as well. I guess I could have elaborated a bit the other day, no heavy lifting, no crazy cleaning frenzies, leave the grocery shopping and all that to Carlos. You can definitely stand and move around, it gets a little boring laying in bed all day. But no long walks, walking to the mailbox in front of the house is fine, however taking a mile-long walk is definitely not good. You can make yourself a sandwich or a quick meal, but no marathon cooking or baking." Dr. Sayre laughed when she noticed Amy elbowing Carlos. "I did say bed rest, so I'm sorry, that was my fault. You do need to make sure you rest a lot, and try not to stand up or be on your feet for extended periods of time. After I check on you next week, if everything is good you can go back to moderate activity."

"Could I go back to work?" Amy asked excitedly.

"What do you do?"

"She doesn't need to go back to work," Carlos interrupted. "I'm also her boss and she can take all the time off she needs."

Dr. Sayre nodded her head in acknowledgement of Carlos' sudden interruption but Amy shot him a dirty look and cut him off.

"I'm a computer programmer, I sit at a desk or a conference table ninety percent of the time. I occasionally do site visits to install programs but I have other staff in my department who could do that."

"You should be able to go back to work after next week, you can try part-time at first and go from there." Dr. Sayre stood up, "Anything else?"

"No," Amy answered. "We'll see you next week."

"Yes, you will. Have a nice relaxing week in the mean time." Dr. Sayre teased as she reached for the door and left.

"Here are your pictures." Gina handed Amy five little glossy black and white pictures of their babies. "They look great! Stay positive." She said just before she followed Dr. Sayre out.

The whole ride home Amy was smiling as she held both hands to her belly. They still had two healthy babies. She just needed to stay positive and rest, her babies would be just fine. When they got home Amy parked herself on the couch and just smiled at Carlos as he stood by quietly while she got settled and comfortable, then picked up her feet and sat down putting them in his lap.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Amy paused for a few seconds, "I think so. We've gotten confirmation that our two babies are growing and doing great. I'm not looking forward to an entire week of doing nothing, but I'll do whatever I need to do to keep the babies safe. Even though I know I'm going to go stir crazy."

Carlos nodded, "If the doctor clears you next week, we'll work out a part-time schedule for you for a week or two. I won't keep you from working, I know that you'll tell me if you need a break."

Amy smiled, "What happened to the crazy overprotective man who was just at the doctor's office? And all of my previous appointments?" She teased.

"He's still here," Carlos put his hand over hers on her lower stomach. "I still want to do what I can to help you get through the pregnancy, but it kind of hit me when we were leaving the doctor's office today that you need less stress and I'm probably not helping out with that. I keep trying to make you quit or cut back. But you know your own limits."

Amy nodded as Carlos stood up and put her legs back down on the couch.

"I'm going to do some work from the office for a little while." Carlos watched her lay down more and grab the TV remote, "Do you need anything?"

"A water and something to eat, a banana or something. Please." Amy smiled sweetly.

Carlos leaned over her and kissed her upturned mouth. "I'll be right back."

A couple minutes later Carlos was back with one of Amy's large water bottles filled with ice water, a banana, a small container of almonds, an orange, and a stick of string cheese. "You need to try to eat since you didn't have breakfast. Humor me and try to eat most of this by the time I'm done working."

"I probably will eat all of it. As dumb as it sounds, actually getting out of the house kind of made me hungry."

"Good." His phone buzzed in his pocket so he pulled it out and saw that his mom was calling him. "Hey mama," he answered cheerfully.

Amy listened to his side of the conversation and gathered that his mom was confirming the time for dinner and insisting on bringing a dessert. She was surprised when he handed her the phone.

"Hi Marie," she answered happily with a smile.

"I just wanted to see how you've been feeling, to make sure you're up for hosting us for dinner tonight."

"Oh I'm doing well, Marie. Carlos and I both really wanted to see you guys and have you down to our house for dinner." Amy smiled as tears welled in her eyes. Carlos sat down next to her and put his hand over hers on her knee.

"I hope that son of mine is taking good care of you."

Amy chuckled, "He definitely is. I'm not actually contributing much to dinner tonight, Carlos is taking care of the preparations. I've been instructed to sit on the couch and relax while he cooks."

Marie was obviously pleased by that, "As it should be my dear, you need a little extra pampering right now. Being pregnant with a Manoso baby is serious business."

That had Amy laughing and agreeing, "That definitely seems to be true."

"Well, I won't take any more of your time. We'll see you tonight."

"We're looking forward to it. Bye Marie." Amy handed the phone back to Carlos. He said his goodbyes and then put an arm around Amy's shoulders.

"My parents will be here around five. I have steaks marinating in the fridge, I figured it would be easiest to grill for dinner so there's not much work for either of us to do."

"Sounds good," Amy nodded. "We should have some veggies we can cut up to grill. I know we have plenty of lettuce for a salad."

Carlos paused a moment before answering, "Does Lexi eat steak? Or should I run to the store for chicken or something else?"

"She'll eat steak, but she really likes pork chops."

"Pork chops it is." Carlos stood again then leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'll be in the office. Just holler if you need me."

Once he was gone Amy turned on the TV and found a movie to watch. After eating the string cheese, a handful of almonds, and the banana she took a nap.


	18. Chapter 18

**It feels AWESOME to finally be writing again. And I am so excited to get this story finished for you guys!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 18**

"Amy." Carlos said her name as he lightly rubbed her shoulder. "I'm making lunch, what do you want?"

She blinked a few times before sitting up, "Just some peanut butter toast, and an apple."

Carlos nodded. "Do you need more water?"

Amy grabbed her water bottle and shook it, "Yeah, refill please."

"Sure thing."

Amy stood up to stretch and realized she needed to pee. She walked to the half bathroom off the kitchen, "I just have to pee, no death looks."

Carlos smiled, "No death looks from me. Promise." He gave her a quick look before turning back toward the toaster. "I'm just making your toast and refilling your water bottle."

Amy couldn't help but chuckle as she closed the bathroom door behind her. After taking care of her business she went back out to the living room to her spot on the couch. She was just getting settled with her knitting when Carlos came in with her toast and water bottle.

"Well, I got some good news while you were napping the morning away."

Amy couldn't answer with a mouth full of peanut butter toast, so she just looked at him and raised her eyebrows silently telling him to continue.

"Bobby called me and asked if we could meet him at the house tomorrow for a walk through."

"Shut the front door! It's done?!" Amy slapped her hands excitedly on her knees like a little girl.

Carlos couldn't stop from laughing at her reaction. "He said that he wants us to go through it before they finish putting all of the trim back in the bedrooms and the switch plates and things like that, just in case there's anything we want to change. And he said the fixtures you wanted for the formal dining room are supposed to be there today, so tomorrow is the first time it'll be all put together. Finally."

"Finally?" Amy gave a short laugh, "You only gave the poor guy like a month to do everything."

"I gave him a lot of extra monetary incentive to get it all done in a month, now we'll get to see if we're getting what we paid for." Carlos bent down to give her a quick kiss.

"Like you've ever had anyone not give you what you paid for." Amy teased before pulling him back for another kiss. "Bobby seemed to have a good handle on everything and has done well considering we haven't been up at the house much in the last couple weeks."

"So are we telling my parents everything when they come tonight?"

"What everything? With the pregnancy?" Amy asked right before she took a bite of her apple.

Carlos nodded, "What other 'everthing' would I mean?"

"I don't know." Amy paused to take a quick drink of water. "Yes, we should probably just go ahead and tell them it's twins, we lost one, and I'm on bedrest for the foreseeable future. Your mom is going to lose her mind."

"She is." Carlos tipped his head slightly to the side, "Right before she tells my dad to go home without her and to just mail her a box of clothes."

Amy sat back on the couch rubbing her chin as if considering, "I do like your mom."

Carlos sat down on the coffee table. "You don't want her moving in here to take care of you. Trust me. If you think I'm overprotective, she'll be worse. She'll have an elevator installed and bring in a wheel chair. You'll be immobilized until the babies come."

"I suppose I'll keep you then." Amy teased. "So, if there aren't any changes on the house when are we moving in?"

"According to Bobby they can do the finishing touches Monday and we can move in after that. They're still working on the apartment and the theater room in the basement, but what we need is done. So if everything goes well tomorrow I'll be calling the movers to come pack everything up probably Wednesday and Thursday. We can be in the new house by next weekend."

"That seems so crazy! But I'm excited. And Lexi is going to lose it."

"Speaking of, do I need to pick her up after school today?"

"No, Emma's mom is dropping her off."

"Okay, well I've got some more work to do yet before I can start getting things ready for dinner."

"Problems?"

"No," Carlos stood up. "And Tess is doing great running things, so don't bug her."

"I'm not bugging her, I've barely talked to her."

Carlos actually snorted, "You e-mail her at least a dozen times a day."

"How would you know?!" Amy gaped and pointed her finger at him, "You've been reading my e-mails!"

"No," Carlos quickly defended himself and explained. "I just tracked yours and Tess's emails and saw that you've been sending quite a few e-mails to her. I know, your mad. But you need to leave things to Tess, she knows what she's doing."

"But I'm so bored!" Amy flopped back on the couch. "Give me your credit card."

Carlos turned his head to the side and eyed her, "Why?"

"Because I'm going to order a ton of new eBooks, yarn, and stuff for the babies. If you aren't going to let me work at all, then I'm going to do a lot of online shopping."

"You'll survive. Just use your card, buy whatever you want."

Amy groaned. "I was kidding. Sort of." She took a big breath in and let it out on a huff. "Such a fun-hater." She grumbled as he walked away.

"Amy!" Marie squealed as soon as she walked through the front door. "You look amazing!" She pulled Amy in for a hug. "Pregnancy agrees with you!"

Amy gave a little laugh, "Maybe it'll agree with me when the nausea and morning sickness pass." She teased.

Marie waved her hand, "It'll be gone in no time. You still look great." She took off her coat and held it out toward Ric without even looking. Once he had her coat she quickly ushered Amy back to the living room. "Sit, sit. I want you to fill me in on everything!" Carlos and Ric stayed behind and went to the kitchen.

Amy settled in her spot on the couch and Marie took the chair angled right next to her. "Where's Lexi?"

"She's upstairs in her room, she'll come down for dinner."

"So how far along are you now?" Marie jumped right in.

"Ten weeks today." Amy smiled, Marie's excitement was contagious. "We just had our first appointment today actually."

"Oh that's exciting! What did you guys find out?"

"So far everything is going great." Amy looked toward the kitchen, "Carlos!" She yelled out.

"Hang on sweetheart, we're going to put the meat on the grill." Carlos peeked around the corner from the kitchen. "We'll join you ladies in a minute, just hold on."

"Hurry, please! Your mom wants to see the ultrasound pictures." Amy smiled as she watched Marie's eyes widen in excitement and she clasped her hands together.

"You have pictures?!" Marie was practically bouncing in her seat.

Amy nodded, "Yes, but we want to show the two of you together."

Marie looked toward the kitchen, "Those two had better hurry up." She looked back to Amy. "Other than the morning sickness, how have you been feeling? Any cravings?"

Amy shook her head, "No cravings yet. I'm really thankful that Carlos knows how to cook, because I haven't been able to do a whole lot in the kitchen without getting sick."

Marie nodded proudly, "That's my boy. He may be a bit stubborn at times but I did teach him a few things, like how to cook. And how to dance."

"How to dance?" Amy tilted her head a little, "He hasn't shown me that skill yet."

"I'll have to make sure that he does." Marie patted Amy's knee. "So, Thanksgiving." Marie sat back in her chair. "Carlos said you three would be coming to our house for lunch, is that right?"

"Yes, we wouldn't miss it." Amy wasn't sure what he'd told his parents about the dinner that's really their surprise wedding, so she was hoping they wouldn't talk about it much tonight.

"What do you guys need help with for your big dinner at the new house that Saturday?"

So much for hoping they wouldn't talk about it. "We don't need help. Everything is covered."

"Well surely you can't be doing all of the cooking and decorating." Marie clearly didn't approve of that idea.

"No, we're not actually doing anything. We arranged for the whole meal to be catered. So we're not doing a thing. We just wanted to have everyone out to see the new house and do a big dinner together."

"Have you started making any wedding plans?"

"Oh yeah, Lexi and I have already gone looking at dresses." Amy was listening for Carlos and Ric with one ear, hoping they would walk in any minute so she could stop talking about Thanksgiving and wedding planning.

"Oh! Did you find one?" Marie clapped her hands together a couple times in excitement.

"I think so. And one for Lex too."

"Where are you guys thinking of having the ceremony and reception?"

"Oh, well we're just starting to make a list of possibilities." Amy stopped when she heard Carlos and Ric walking into the living room finally. "There you guys are."

Carlos walked straight to Amy and sat down right next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. He dropped a quick kiss on her temple before turning to his mom. "Possibilities for what?"

"Wedding venues." Amy put her hand on his thigh and gave it a quick squeeze. "Your mom and I have been talking about wedding plans."

"Oh, we've got plenty of time to get all of that figured out." Carlos pulled a gift bag out from under the coffee table. "Here, we wanted you guys to have this."

Amy leaned her head onto his shoulder and whispered, "Thank You!" while his mom was busy digging through the tissue paper.

He gave her a barely perceptible nod and smiled as his mom pulled out the picture frame with the ultrasound picture of the twins in it.

Marie just stared at the picture frame for a full minute without saying a word. Then she looked up at Carlos for a few seconds before looking at Amy and then dropping her eyes to her stomach and finally back to Carlos. "This picture…" she stopped as tears welled in her eyes and she fought to keep her voice steady. After a few seconds she cleared her throat and held the picture to her chest. "Two?" She finally got out.

Amy was fighting tears along with Marie so Carlos answered, "Yes mama, twins."

Marie shrieked and jumped up, "Get up you two! I need hugs!"

Amy and Carlos both chuckled and stood up to get squeezed as hard as Marie could possibly hug them both at once.

"So, twins!" Marie put her hands on Amy's shoulders. "That explains why you've been so sick." Amy nodded. "So have you noticed a difference so far between being pregnant with one and being pregnant with two?"

Amy looked to Carlos for a little help, she knew they needed to fill them in on all of the craziness of the pregnancy so far.

"Let's sit back down." Carlos put his arm back around Amy as they got settled again. "This pregnancy has been a lot different." Carlos tugged Amy a little closer. "There was actually three babies, but about a week ago we lost one." He put a hand up to silence his mother's response so he could explain. "We didn't know for sure that there was three until Amy started bleeding. And then we weren't sure if she would even sustain the pregnancy at all. So until we had definitive answers we kept it to ourselves. I know that you would've come and been here for support but we were kind of in shock over the whole thing so we waited."

Amy scooted forward on the couch to grab Marie's hand in hers. "I'm sorry that we didn't tell you sooner, but I want to make sure you know that we thought of you and we want you involved in the pregnancy. We really were just in complete shock over it all."

Marie was crying now. "Of course I wish you would've told us sooner, any loss is hard. But I'm so happy for the two of you. Those two babies are going to be so loved. We're thrilled for you guys."

Carlos stood, "Dad and I need to go check the meat on the grill, we'll be right back." He leaned down and gave Amy a quick kiss and then dropped a quick kiss on his mom's cheek and got pulled into another hug before following his dad to the kitchen.

"So how are you feeling now?" Marie was looking at the ultrasound picture again.

"I'm feeling great, except for the random nausea. I'm actually on bed rest right now just as a precaution to make sure the babies are okay. Carlos is loving it. I haven't been to work in over a week. I've been holding down the couch and the bed and doing a lot of knitting and reading. Oh and sleeping. Being on bed rest during the first trimester hasn't been so bad when I can take lots of naps." Amy teased on a laugh.

"If I know Carlos I'm sure you've been well taken care of." Marie smiled at Amy, "You know if you need anything, literally anything at all, just call me. I would be more than happy to come down and go grocery shopping or to help with housework."

"Carlos has it all taken care of. He's been doing everything." Amy put her hands out before dropping them back into her lap. "I literally just sit around. Carlos and Lexi do the laundry, he takes care of all of the cooking. However he did talk Ella into doing the grocery shopping this week."

"I don't have anything going on Monday or Tuesday next week, I can come down." Marie patted Amy's hand, "I would love to come down and fuss about the house and over you."

"Actually the movers are coming next week."

"That was fast! I thought it would be another month or two with all of the work you guys were having done."

Amy smirked and shrugged her shoulders, "You know Carlos, when he wants something, he gets it. I think he wanted to make sure the house would be done in plenty of time for Thanksgiving. So the movers will be here next week to pack us up and move everything out."

Dinner went smoothly. Every time that Marie brought up wedding plans, Carlos helped change the subject so that Amy wouldn't have to try to stumble around with excuses. They were already only a few weeks away from their surprise wedding and so far no one knew anything about it. And with the exception of Carlos' parents and Bobby, their in-house medic, no one knew about the babies either. Their plans to completely surprise and shock everyone with the wedding and their growing family would hopefully go off without a hitch.

The second week of November became the most insane week that Carlos and Amy had had in their relationship so far. Carlos single-handedly organized their move to the new house, took care of everything at Rangeman, picked up some of the decorations for the wedding, talked to all of the vendors for the wedding to finalize food and rentals, got measured for and picked up new suit for the wedding, took over transportation getting Lexi to and from school, to her therapy appointment, and to dance class. Amy was absolutely amazed and even more in love with Carlos after watching him do it all without ever voicing the tiniest complaint.

Thursday afternoon Amy was lounging in the family room at the new house, while their new housekeeper Claire was busy in the kitchen working on supper. She was just standing up when the door from the garage opened and in walked Lexi just ahead of Carlos. She smiled as Lexi ran to her and let her wrap her arms around Amy's waist as she patted Lexi's back.

"Hey there baby girl. How was school?" Amy smiled at Carlos who had gone to the kitchen to talk to Claire. Then she looked back down at Lexi.

"It was good. Miss Sawyer let us pick partners to read with today."

"Oh yeah? Who did you pick?" Amy asked as she guided Lexi to the kitchen.

"Well Izzy was gone today so I picked Emma."

Lexi climbed onto one of the bar stools on the backside of the large kitchen island as Amy walked around to the fridge and got a couple of apples and cheese sticks for snacks for herself and Lexi.

"What book did you read?"

"A book about Disney princesses."

Amy smiled as she sat down next to Lexi, "Your favorite!" She put one of the apples and one of the cheese sticks in front of Lexi.

As soon as Lexi started eating Amy looked at Carlos who was still talking to Claire. She caught the end of their conversation, he was evidently double checking that Claire was okay taking care of the whole house on her own including cooking meals. She had done well, for her first day anyways. Amy had tried to talk him out of having a housekeeper but had lost that argument. So they'd talked to Ella, and she had recommended her friend Claire.

Claire was in her mid-fifties, widowed, about 5' 8", very trim and slender, loved yoga, and had been a housekeeper and house manager since her youngest had gone off to college about ten years earlier. They interviewed her at the new house on Monday when they were in the middle of moving in. Carlos and Amy had both instantly loved her but insisted on doing a trial for at least two weeks to make sure the house, grocery shopping, and the cooking wouldn't be too much for her. They made her first week easy, Carlos had done the grocery shopping and she would only have to work Thursday and Friday.

"Do you have any problems with the dinner meal requirements?" Carlos asked.

"Oh no," Claire smiled and shook her head, "I cook similarly for myself, although I'll admit not quite as healthy and organic."

Amy snorted, "No one eats as healthy and organic as Carlos." She gave Carlos a sickly sweet smile when he scowled at her. "I'm sorry honey, but you know it's true."

"You've been eating just as healthy as me since we've moved in together."

Amy just stared at him.

Carlos narrowed his eyes slightly, "What have you been eating that I don't know about?"

"I'm a woman, do you really think I don't have chocolate stashed away?" Amy chuckled when Carlos scowled at her again. "Your evil eye may work on the guys at work, but it doesn't work on me. A little chocolate never hurt anyone."

Carlos rolled his eyes and smiled at Claire, "Do you have everything you'll need for tomorrow? I have to run Lexi back to Trenton in a little bit for her therapy appointment so if there's something you need I can grab it while I'm out."

"No," Claire shook her head. "I've been cleaning as I unpack the rooms. And Ms. Kendrick,"

"Amy," Amy interrupted. "Please Claire, call me Amy. Ms. Kendrick makes me feel like my Grandmother."

Claire smiled, "Ok, Amy. She helped me arrange things and told me where the extra cleaning supplies were."

Carlos nodded. "If you need anything, we're running low on anything or have any suggestions just let Amy know or write it on the pad on the fridge."

"I will Mr. Manoso."

Amy let her stool by Lexi and followed Carlos down the hall to their bedroom. He walked straight through their room into the ensuite bathroom and into the closet. As soon as he stripped off his shirt Amy felt herself get a little hot. She sat on the bench in their closet and watched him change from his Rangeman gear into a charcoal Henley shirt and dark wash denim jeans. He was just buttoning his jeans when he finally looked up at Amy.

"Don't look at me like that Amy," he said as he pulled her up from the bench and held her to him. "Not when we can't do anything about it." He leaned down and lightly brushed his lips against hers but backed off when she tried to pull him down for more. Amy pouted. He just shook his head at her, "We see Dr. Sayre tomorrow morning and with any luck we can get back to normal in a week or two." He kissed her again before releasing her and taking a step back. "Trust me, not being able to make love to you every night when we're in bed is absolutely the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

Amy closed her eyes for a few moments before opening them again and smiling at Carlos. "I'm going to get changed really quick and then…"

"Get changed for what?" Carlos interrupted her.

"To go to Lexi's therapy appointment." Amy pulled a pair of jeans off the shelf on her side of the closet.

Carlos walked over and took the jeans from her hands and put them back on the shelf. "I've got it. I'm taking Lex to her appointment, you can stay here to help Claire get more rooms unpacked."

"That woman is a freaking work horse. The only things left to unpack are my books in the Library, but I want to do those. Everything else is sitting in the second garage until after the wedding, there's not much point in setting everything up now, just to turn around and have to move it all back out in two weeks. We have enough furniture in the family room for now, and we can eat at the island in the kitchen for a couple weeks."

"If that's what you want to do, that's fine with me. But you still can stay at home."

Amy shook her head and grabbed her jeans again. "I need to do something, just to get out of the house." Amy slid her leggings off and pulled her jeans up. She frowned when she tried but couldn't get them to button. Defeated, she dropped her hands to her side and sighed. "Oh come on." She said more to herself than to Carlos. She took her jeans off and folded them before putting them back on the shelf and pulling down another pair.

"Maybe you should stay home and do some online shopping." Carlos tried to smile but Amy scowled at him as she pulled up another pair of jeans.

"You have got to be kidding." Amy took off the second pair of jeans and dropped back down to the bench. "These fit last week. How is it that I need maternity clothes already?!" She looked up and pointed a finger at Carlos, "Not a word." She grabbed her leggings and pulled them back on then went to another part of the closet and grabbed a dark pink long tunic.

"Sweetie, you are pregnant with twins. And you're near the end of your first trimester so of course you're starting to show a little already."

"Being on bed rest isn't helping." Amy sighed, "Ok, lets go."

"Amy Kendrick" the nurse at Amy's obstetrician's office called out.

Amy and Carlos stood and walked to the door. "Not for long." Ranger whispered as they followed the nurse down the hall.

"Huh?" Amy was confused.

"I need to get your weight really quick and then you can step into the bathroom and give a urine sample."

"You'll be Amy Manoso in a couple weeks." Carlos reminded her as she stepped on the scale.

"Oh yeah, I guess I will." She smiled.

"Okay," the nurse scribbled Amy's weight on a piece of paper then pointed to the bathroom. "Mom, you can go in there and dad can follow me to the ultrasound room."

A couple minutes later Amy was sitting on the table in the ultrasound room where Carlos was already talking with Nurse Tina and Dr. Sayre.

"Okay Amy," Dr. Sayre started, "How have you been feeling?"

"Normal I guess. I still throw up almost every morning, but I have found that if I eat ginger chews they help make the nausea go away quicker."

"Ginger usually does work great for nausea, and heartburn too. Have you had any more spotting or bleeding?"

"No," Amy shook her head. "That stopped over the weekend and hasn't come back."

"That's great!" Dr. Sayre sat down in front of the ultrasound machine while Nurse Tina got ultrasound gel and a drape ready. "Go ahead and lie back. Tina will get you ready for the ultrasound."

A minute later Carlos and Amy were holding hands as Dr. Sayre was measuring Baby A. "Both babies look wonderful. Baby A is measuring at 11 week 2 days. Let's have a quick listen," she pushed a couple of buttons and they heard the sweet thudding sound of their baby's heart beating. "156 for Baby A. Now lets move on to Baby B." The amazing sound of their other babies heartbeat filled the room, "151 for Baby B. Perfect! And Baby B is measuring at 11 weeks 4 days." Dr. Sayre looked around a little more and did a few more measurements as she spoke. "The babies both look wonderful. I'm not seeing any other issues. You're cervix is still nice and long."

Dr. Sayre cleaned most of the ultrasound gel off Amy's stomach as she talked, "So the good news is you guys get to go a whole two weeks before you need to come back."

Nurse Tina interrupted, "That's Black Friday."

"Okay, so that means you can either come in the Wednesday before or wait until the Monday after. You guys can decide and make your appointment on your way out." Dr. Sayre made some notes in Amy's file. "Any questions?"

"How much longer do I need to be on bed rest and when can I go back to work?" Amy squeezed Carlos' hand when he gave a barely noticeable growl.

"You said you're a computer programmer?"

Amy nodded.

"Take another week, if you can. Then you can start back the week of Thanksgiving since it'll be a short week anyways. For this week, take it easy. No heavy lifting, no working out yet, but light activity is good."

"I can handle that." Amy was about to ask about their busy impending wedding weekend, but Carlos beat her to it.

"We're getting married Thanksgiving weekend." Carlos started.

"That'll be fun! Congratulations!"

"Thank You." Carlos and Amy both said together.

"We'll be kind of busy with the holiday and then the wedding, so what precautions should we take for the weekend? We're kind of surprising all of our family, no one knows we're getting married and no one knows about the babies yet either except my parents." Carlos paused, "I don't want Amy to do too much but it is our wedding, so of course we want to have a good time dancing and spending time with our family and friends."

"Well, I would say that a few slow dances would be just fine. As long as you guys aren't planning on doing any swing dancing or a long choreographed number, I don't see why you can't have a fairly normal wedding and reception. Sit down as often as you need to, Amy. Make sure your drinking plenty of water, when your busy it can be easy to forget. If you start feeling any cramping or notice any spotting, light headedness, dizziness, or excessive or sudden nausea or vomiting come in to the hospital and call me on the way."

"I have no doubt that Carlos will make sure I'm drinking plenty of water and taking it easy."

"Good." Dr. Sayre closed her laptop, "I'll help avoid the stuttering and embarrassment. I want you to take another couple of weeks with no sexual activity, nothing in the vagina at all. I'll do a quick exam at your next appointment to make sure your cervix isn't dilated and we'll go from there. In fact, make your next appointment for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and I can give you guys some peace of mind for your busy holiday weekend." Dr. Sayre closed Amy's file. "Anything else?"

"I think we're good." Amy said as she got off of the table.

"I'll see you guys back here in a week and a half then."

"So," Amy said as Carlos pulled out of the parking lot. "I can finally do stuff again!"

"Just because you can do things doesn't mean you need to do everything." Carlos reminded her.

"I know. But if we're going to be having people at the house in two weeks I really need to go shopping, we need beds, bedding, furniture, more bath towels and rugs for the eight bathrooms in the house."

"A shopping spree is too much." Carlos reminded her.

"I know." Amy got her phone out to start making a list of where she needed to go over the next week and what she needed to get to have the house ready for their wedding guests. "So my parents are staying with us for the wedding weekend, will the apartment above the garage be ready?"

"Bobby assures me that it will be. And your brother and his wife can stay in the big room upstairs."

"Is anyone else staying at the house?"

"I don't think so. My sister is staying with our parents."

"We haven't really talked much about it, but do you want Julie to be at the wedding?" Amy watched Carlos carefully but noticed he didn't react to her question.

"I truly haven't thought about it. We've been so busy with everything." Carlos really seemed to be thinking hard about it.

"It might be worth a call, see if she would like to come up."

"I'll call and see if she would want to come, and if her mom would let her come up."

Amy nodded. The car was quiet for a few minutes. "Are you going back to the office?"

"I was planning on it." Carlos glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, I was actually going to ask if I can just do a little of my shopping while you work, then I can pick up Lexi and we can swing by and pick you up to go home about 4?" Amy had a hopeful grin on her face. "Dr. Sayre said light activity. I promise that shopping for sheets and bath towels is light activity. It'll just be a couple hours. And I need to get maternity pants anyways."

"Fine, but you eating lunch with me first. At Rangeman. I'll have Ella make us lunch."

"I guess we'll just tell everyone at Rangeman that I'm taking next week off because of the move?" Amy asked.

"I already told them that was why you took off this week."

"We're running out of excuses. Do I need to limp?" Amy teased.

"If we don't eat at Rangeman, where do you want to go?"

"Not the forest, no twigs and berries. The babies need food."

Carlos glanced at her quickly, he clearly wasn't impressed by the jab at his usual preference for super healthy food.

"Sushi?"

"You can't eat it." He reminded her.

"I can eat anything that has precooked seafood in it. Or I can just order from the grill."

"Fine." Carlos caved.

Amy was standing at the mirror in their bathroom when Carlos walked in fresh from their home gym in the basement. She was carefully applying eyeliner as he went straight to the shower.

"How was your workout?"

"Good. The gym is awesome."

"I can't wait to be able to use it." Amy finished her makeup and walked into the closet to pick a pair of shoes. She was just walking out of the closet as Carlos stepped out of the shower.

"Your maternity pants look good. Did you have any problems finding pants?"

"No," Amy stood in the doorway as Carlos got dressed in his usual Rangeman attire of black cargo pants and a black t-shirt. "I actually ended up just buying a few pairs of black pants and jeans a size bigger than normal for now. The stretchy maternity pants made me look super pregnant for some reason."

"Well, you are." Carlos pointed out. Amy scowled at him just before he walked up to her and bent down to drop a quick kiss on her lips. "I love it when you pout." He kissed her again.

"I don't want everyone to know quite yet though."

"Let's go have some breakfast with Lex before we all head to Trenton."


	19. Chapter 19

Finding time to write is kind of at a premium right now with five kids and a husband to take care of, especially since my now 5-month old baby girl has turned into a terrorist who evidently doesn't want me to sleep. I'm sorry it's taking so long to get new chapters out, but I'm trying! J And thank you everyone who has been reading and leaving reviews, I appreciate them all!

Ch 19

Amy was equally excited and nervous to finally be back to work. Her team had done a wonderful job running things while she had been out the last few weeks, but she was looking forward to getting back to normal. The last week at home had actually ended up being helpful. Their surprise wedding was officially done and ready to be executed. Their caterer had the final head count and Carlos and Amy had picked the menu. All decorations were ready to be put up, everything was in boxes in the garage attached to the house. All rentals-tables, chairs, linens, etc were set to be delivered Friday. Amy's dresses were hanging in their bedroom closet. Since Carlos had vehemently argued against Amy wearing any kind of heel for the entire event, she had ballet flats to match the navy blue lace gown she would be wearing when the guests all arrived, and since they would be staying inside she just had some fancy beaded flip flops to go with her ceremony dress.

"Don't hover today, or people will start to question your sanity." Amy teased as she and Carlos rode the elevator up to the main business level.

"I won't. But we're having lunch together in the apartment, like normal." Carlos squeezed Amy's hand in his.

"Has Ella made more pickles?" Amy asked.

"I'm pretty sure there's a few jars in the fridge in the apartment, safe from the rest of the hungry hounds." Carlos teased.

The elevator doors opened and Carlos ushered Amy out ahead of him then walked next her through the hallway with a hand at the small of her back. They made it to the control room and Amy wasn't able to walk by without all three of the guys working there noticing.

"Hey boss." Pete gave Carlos a salute. "Amy! It's been a boring few weeks without you. Ranger has been a little grouchy..." Pete stopped when Carlos looked at him with slightly furrowed brows.

"If you like your job Pete, you might want to zip it." Amy teased. "But I'm really glad to be back too."

Carlos and Amy left the control room laughing. They got to the break room at the same time as Tank.

"Amy!" Tank put one arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze then released her. "You look like your walking pretty good to me. Ranger made it sound like you had broken an ankle."

"It was a really bad sprain." Amy had almost forgotten that she had been out the last three weeks supposedly because of an ankle injury. "There was a tiny stress fracture in my foot too. But it's all good now. I'm so glad to be back."

"We're glad to have you back too. Maybe now Ranger will quit being such a tyrant." Tank teased, completely unafraid of any wrath Carlos might direct at him.

Amy chuckled as she grabbed a couple bottles of water out of the fridge and handed one to Carlos. " Watch out Tank, he'll stick you on overnights in the control room if you make him too mad."

Tank gave a short laugh before clasping Ranger's shoulder. "I'm not afraid," he said to Amy before turning to Ranger, "You're like a brother to me, but you've been a pain the last few weeks." He let go of Ranger's shoulder and turned back to Amy, who was leaning against the counter eating an apple. "So how's the new house?"

She finished chewing the bite of apple in her mouth before answering. "It's huge. I love it, but it somehow seems even bigger now that we live there than it did the first time I saw it." Amy took a drink of her water before continuing. "The intercoms and all of the cameras are definitely coming in handy."

"Are you guys ready for your big Thanksgiving/house warming dinner? Is the house going to be ready in less than two weeks?" Tank looked between Ranger and Amy.

"I'm pretty sure my credit card is about maxed out since Amy has had nothing but time to shop online and make sure every room is furnished. Friday we got a huge box of nothing but throw pillows. So we'll either be able to have a huge pillow fight or we can line the floor and walls of one room with nothing but pillows." Carlos had said the exact same thing to Amy when the box had showed up at the house.

"Men, you don't understand decorating." Amy rolled her eyes. "I've got to go see what's waiting for me on my desk and get caught up with my team." She had finished her apple so she grabbed a banana to eat later and got another bottle of water out of the fridge. "I'll see you guys later."

Amy found her office door open and was surprised that there was only two files sitting on her desk. Marcy had already dropped off her work for the morning, just like normal. She sat down, turned on her computer and then just sat back in her chair for a minute. Three weeks away from work was a weird feeling for Amy, but she was very glad to be back. Her office had never looked so fun.

Thankfully Amy had kept up with her emails while she was off, so she didn't have a huge backlog of messages to go through. She was in the middle of typing up her second email when Marcy walked in.

"Welcome back!" Marcy held a pie plate in her hands. "I made you your favorite Cherry no bake Cheesecake."

"Oh my gosh! Marcy! This looks delicious, thank you! You did not have to do this." Amy took the pie and set it on her desk then hugged Marcy. She stepped back and was trying so hard to not cry. Damn pregnancy hormones. "I'm not sharing this with anyone, it's all mine!" Amy laughed.

Marcy was pleasantly pink at the praise and just smiled at Amy. "It's not like Ranger would ever eat that anyways, it's dessert. He doesn't eat dessert."

"Rarely. He does eat it, but this cheesecake is not something he would eat. Which means I don't have to share." Amy leaned back against her desk. "So what did I miss while I was out?"

"Tess stayed on top of things pretty well for you, and I know the two of you talked almost every day. So you didn't miss much really." Marcy pointed to the files on Amy's desk. "The top file is a priority, it's a new client and they have multiple locations. Tess started some of the work but she felt more comfortable with you handling it since she knew you'd be back today."

"Okay, do we have an installation date for the main location or does that still need to be set up?" Amy asked as she picked up the file and started skimming through the security features the client wanted.

"I'm pretty sure it's been scheduled for the beginning of next week. I believe the rest will be done by the end of the week."

Amy nodded her head as she turned the page and saw the date had already been scheduled. "Perfect. I should be able to get this one done today for sure." She set the file back down on her desk. "Will you send Tess in when she comes in, please?" Amy walked back around her desk and sat in her chair.

"Sure thing! So glad to have you back!" Marcy said as she started backing out the door.

"It's wonderful to be back, believe me. Sitting at home doing nothing is not all it's cracked up to be." Amy teased.

"Especially for a busy body like you!" Marcy said as she turned around and walked out.

After a quick twenty-minute catch up meeting with Tess, Amy started to dive in to the new client's programming. They had pre-programmed packages that their clients could choose from, but a lot of times bigger clients wanted different options or more complicated features-like multiple locations in and out of state. It was only a little past nine when she got an email from Carlos.

From: Carlos Manoso

Subject: First Day Back

Date: November 21, 2016 09:08

To: Amaya Kendrick

How is your first day back going so far?

Amy smiled as she read the email. She was kind of surprised it took him that long to check in on her. Just as she was getting ready to reply her cell phone rang. She looked at the Caller ID and was surprised to see it was a number she didn't recognize from Florida. They hadn't heard from Troy in a couple weeks now, and if the call was from him it would say it was from the prison. She debated on answering or sending it to voicemail but finally decided to connect the call.

"Hello?"

"Amy?" A woman asked.

Amy paused for a few seconds. "Yes." She answered cautiously. "Who is this?"

"This is Kathy," the woman answered timidly.

Amy's heart rate nearly doubled and she literally froze. Troy's mom. Amy hadn't seen or heard from Kathy since Troy's sentencing hearing over five years earlier. She couldn't think of anything to say or do, not that her body would have let her. Her muscles had literally frozen her in place.

"I know I'm not really supposed to talk to you about this. But as a mother, I just can't sit back and not at least try to fight for my son." Kathy said, her voice shaking with emotion. "Troy has changed so much Amy. He truly has. But being in prison is really starting to get to him. He's fighting depression badly. He really needs to get out of there and work on getting his life back."

Amy sucked in a breath, not realizing that she had literally stopped breathing as she listened to Kathy. "Do you have any idea what happened in that house?" She finally asked, fighting to keep her voice even and not scream through the phone. "Because if you did, I don't think you would be talking to me right now, begging for me to help your son. He threatened me. When I tried to leave the house that day, he broke my arm. I was literally afraid for my life, and my daughter's life." Amy paused to take a couple of deep breaths to try to keep herself calm. "I told him after his second drunk driving charge that if he did it again, I would leave. I refuse to enable that kind of behavior Kathy. I just can't. He did what he did, knowing full well what the consequences would be."

"Please," Kathy pleaded as she started to cry. "You took off, our own granddaughter hasn't seen us in over five years. She doesn't even know who we are."

"Because you guys always enabled Troy. Just like your trying to do right now. I'm sorry, I truly am sorry that you and Don haven't been able to be in Lexi's life. Because she is such a sweet, caring, selfless and outgoing little girl. But the only reason she is who she is, is because I took her out of a toxic environment." Amy stopped, and all she could hear was Kathy's sobs. "I can't do this Kathy. I have enough crap going on in my life right now, because of Troy. Please don't call me again."

Feeling defeated and not at all bubbly and excited as she had when she first walked in today, Amy grabbed the cheesecake from Marcy, found a plastic fork in one of her drawers, and dug right in. She had a quarter of the cheesecake gone when Carlos walked in.

He tipped his head slightly at the sight of Amy eating her cheesecake right out of the pie plate until he noticed that she was obviously upset. He closed her office door behind him and walked straight over to her.

"Put the pie down." He ordered as he squatted down next her chair.

"It's cheesecake." Amy said as she stuck another big forkful of cherries, graham cracker, and cream cheese into her mouth.

"Sweetie, you can't eat that whole thing." Carlos put a hand on her knee and the other on her back.

"Watch me." She said with her mouth full. She waited until she'd swallowed before talking again. "I'm pregnant, hormonal, and hungry. If I want to eat this whole cheesecake that Marcy made for me, I will." She scooped up another bite and looked right at Carlos as she put it in her mouth.

"Okay, that's enough." Carlos took the fork out of her hand and put it in the pie plate as he moved it over to the cabinet against the wall. "Why are you eating your feelings?" He asked as he watched her closely.

That was all it took for the dam to break. The tears started to fall and Amy was sobbing uncontrollably. Not just sobbing, she was full on ugly-crying and trying to cover her face. Carlos pulled her out of her chair and sat in her place then pulled her down into his lap. She nuzzled right in, nearly soaking his shoulder as she shook and cried. He just held her and rubbed her back. After a few minutes she had finally calmed down enough to talk.

"What was that all about?" Carlos asked quietly.

"I just got a call from Troy's mom, Kathy." Amy grabbed for her box of tissues so she could blow her nose.

Carlos stiffened, "Why did you answer?"

"I didn't know it was her. Amy shook her head as she wiped her nose one more time, "She begged me to help Troy get out. She claims that he's changed so much and he's fighting depression so he needs to get out of prison." Amy gave a derisive laugh. "She'll never change."

"Didn't you say that his parents were constantly making excuses for him and helping him get out of trouble?"

"Yes. Constantly. I told her I wouldn't help them enable him." Amy took a deep steadying breath and shook her head. "Then she brought up Lexi. Which just highlighted in my mind everything that my daughter is going through right now because of them. She's seeing a therapist and having to find out a lot of things about her dad that she doesn't fully understand right now."

"Stay positive, everything is already in the works to keep Troy in prison and to give you and Lex more security and support, both legally and financially. Once we're married we can sign the adoption paperwork for Lexi to legally be my daughter. Then Troy can't have his rights reinstated. It'll all be over. We've got this. Okay?" Carlos looked into Amy's eyes as she nodded at him. "No more crying outbursts please. Seeing you like that was one of the most awful and helpless feelings for me."

Amy mustered a smile and nodded, "I'll try, but I can't make any promises. I am pregnant and hormonal right now." She paused to blow her nose again. "Crying like that is definitely not normal for me."

He leaned forward and kissed her softly, lingering for a few seconds before pulling back. "Ella will have lunch ready for us upstairs at 11:30. Unless your full from the cheesecake."

Her cheeks flushed a little, she really wasn't usually such an emotional eater. Just another one of those 'fun' pregnancy quirks. "I think I'll need a salad and some veggies to try to offset all of the sugar and calories I just inhaled." Amy grabbed her bottle of water and drank half of it before setting it back down. "The babies are probably dancing the cha cha in there about now." She teased before drinking the rest of the water and throwing the bottle away.

Carlos stood and let Amy go to get another bottle of water. "So, other than the phone call, how has your first day back been?"

"Good." Amy sat back in her chair and leaned back, "I'm working on a new account. Multiple locations."

"The Donnelly account?"

"That's the one. I should have it done today."

"Sounds good." Carlos leaned down and gave her a quick kiss, "I'll see you for lunch then."

Amy smiled, "Yes, you will."

At eleven twenty-five Amy put her computer to sleep and went upstairs to the apartment. She shouldn't have been surprised to find Ella there with Ranger when she got there, but she was.

"Look at you glow!" Ella immediately pulled Amy into a hug the second she walked into the kitchen. She put her hands on Amy's shoulders and held her at arms length while she looked her over from head to toe. "You're showing already. Pregnancy looks good on you. I'm assuming your absence the last few weeks was pregnancy-related but Carlos wouldn't tell me much."

Amy couldn't help but smile at Ella's remarks and obvious motherly concern. "I'm doing great. We had a little bit of a scare, but everything is looking really good." Amy put her hands over Ella's that were still on her shoulders. "And I am showing already. Carlos finds it comical that I no longer fit into my pants."

Ella shot Carlos a quick but stern look before looking back to Amy, "Embrace it, Amy. I'm serious. Pregnancy is something only women can do and it's amazing and miraculous."

"Thank You Ella. I'll remember that." Amy was so glad that they wouldn't have to be quite so secretive in a few more weeks.

"I'll leave you two to your lunch." Ella gave Amy another quick hug. She walked over to Carlos and gave him a hug as well, whispering something in his ear before she finally left.

Carlos pulled out a stool at the island for Amy before sitting down next to her. "So, in five days you'll officially be Mrs. Carlos Manoso. Are you nervous yet?" He teased as they started on their lunch.

"Actually, I'm not nervous at all." Amy said as she took a bite of her salad with grilled chicken. "Speaking of, do we have anything left to do for Saturday?"

"The marriage license is ready to be signed Saturday, the caterer has the final numbers, and the photographer called this morning and confirmed the time. I called the rental company to confirm we have enough tables, chairs, and linens coming, the DJ e-mailed me asking for our song choices so we do need to get him that by Friday." Carlos pulled out his phone before continuing, "Are you and Lexi getting your hair and nails done Saturday morning?"

"Yes, we'll be back at the house about 1. We're going to do manicures and pedicures at 9, then having our hair done at 10:30, and then we'll get a quick lunch before we come home."

Carlos nodded, "People should start arriving around 4:30 or so. The invite says 5 but I know the Manoso's like to be early so most of my family will be here before 5."

Amy hummed in agreement as she finished chewing, she took a drink of water before adding, "My dad and everyone will probably get to the house earlier than that so they can get settled and dressed for the dinner. He called me yesterday and said they should be at the house around 3."

"All of the rentals are coming Friday and will be set up in the garage so the only possible problem could be them seeing the DJ or photographer." Carlos stopped to think for a minute.

"Does the DJ have an event Friday night or Saturday morning?" Amy asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Ask him if he can drop off and set up his equipment in the morning and then come back. And the photographer won't have anything to set up so she'll show up around the same time as most everybody else. What time did you tell the judge for the ceremony?"

"I told him we want to start by 5:30."

"The photographer wants to take pictures of Lex and I putting on our dresses, so as soon as she gets there we'll go to the master bedroom and do that. We'll have to make sure we have our cell phones because once I have the dress on I can't come out, you'll have to let me know once everyone is in the formal living room."

Carlos nodded, "We'll figure that out."

Amy had finished her salad so she drank the rest of her water then reached for a pickle. "So, I guess we're good to go for this weekend then."

"We should be," Carlos said. "What are you making for Thanksgiving Day lunch at my parents?"

"Your mom told me not to worry about making anything since I've been nauseous. I told her that I could handle a cold salad, and after some back and forth I told her I would be bringing something no matter what." Amy took her plate to the dishwasher and got another bottle of water from the fridge before sitting back down next to Carlos. "So I think I'm going to make broccoli salad and I have an easy crock pot recipe for green beans with bacon and onions. Thoughts?"

"Sounds good."

"You aren't going to eat either of them are you?"

"Family holiday gatherings are a little different. I'll probably try a little bit of everything." Carlos took care of his plate then stood on the other side of the island opposite Amy. "Did my mom tell you that we don't always stick to traditional American Thanksgiving foods?"

"Yes. She mentioned Chorizo tacos, which surprisingly sound really good right now."

"Are the babies craving spicy food?"

Amy shook her head, "Not really, at least not that I've noticed."

"You haven't really been craving much meat."

"You aren't keeping a diary of what I've been eating, have you?"

"No," Carlos answered. "I've just noticed that you haven't been eating a lot of meat."

"Is that why granola protein balls, protein shakes, and protein bars have been showing up in front of me the last couple of weeks?"

"You need protein."

Amy stood up from the table and stretched before walking toward the bathroom. "I need to pee, again."

Carlos was standing in the kitchen with Bobby, the in-house medical expert, when Amy walked out of the bathroom. "Hey Sweetie, Bobby stopped by to check on you since it's your first day back."

"Hi Bobby, have you studied up on twin pregnancies yet?"

Bobby smirked, "I've definitely been doing a lot of reading. Have you been feeling better?"

"The morning sickness is still lingering around. It's the worst when I first wake up. Cooking is kind of bad too, especially anything with meat, which Carlos and I were just talking about before I went to the bathroom." Amy grabbed her bottle of water and sat back on a stool at the island.

"I've taken over nearly all of the cooking." Carlos said as he rinsed their lunch dishes.

"That works out well then." Bobby walked around the island and sat next to Amy. "Ranger filled me in on everything so far with the pregnancy, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry you guys lost one of the babies."

Amy gave Bobby a lop-sided smile and nodded, "Thanks. It was a rough couple of weeks. We are very happy that the other two babies look perfect."

"You guys aren't announcing for a few more weeks yet, correct?"

"Yes," Carlos answered. "We want to make sure we're past the first trimester, especially with the troubles we've already had. My parents know. Other than you and Ella, no one else knows."

Bobby nodded, "I have a really weird question for you Amy. Do you mind if I take your blood pressure? Preeclampsia is one of the more common pregnancy complications, so I'd like to take your blood pressure once or twice a week just to kind of keep an eye on it."

Amy nodded but her eyes went to Carlos, "This is you, isn't it?"

Before he could answer Bobby chimed in, "It's truly from me. When Ranger told me you guys were having twins I started looking up the common complications for pregnancy with multiples. If I have a baseline blood pressure from you and keep an eye on it, it'll be easier to see if it's rising. It also allows me to know what's a normal BP for you. If you feel light-headed and I take it and it's high, it could be hard for me to know how to treat you or what to do for you."

"Fine." Amy narrowed her eyes at Carlos, who was leaning back against the counter next to the fridge. "I need another pickle."

Carlos barely lifted one corner of his mouth in a smirk before getting Amy another pickle. He handed it to her just as Bobby recited her blood pressure out loud. "Is that normal?"

Bobby nodded as he put his blood pressure cuff back in his bag. "100/70 is great. I will probably try to check your blood pressure every Monday, if that works for you guys."

"Yeah," Amy nodded as she stood and made her way to the door. "That should work fine."

"Well, I'll leave you guys. Congrats on the twins. If I don't see you again since this is a short week, Happy Thanksgiving."

"Are you coming to our house for dinner Saturday?" Amy asked.

"Oh yeah, I am. So I'll see you guys Saturday." Bobby saluted Carlos before leaving.

Once Bobby was gone Amy tilted her head slightly, "Why do you have Bobby checking on me? You don't think our OB is good enough?"

"Not at all," Carlos stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "I just feel more comfortable knowing that he's familiar with your pregnancy as well. If you have any problems while you're at work or if you go into labor at work, then he won't have to ask as many questions."

"I'm surprised you haven't hired a nurse and put her up in the apartment over the garage yet." Amy teased.

Carlos stayed quiet and still, his expression never changing as Amy studied him. He still couldn't believe just how well she could read him. She continued to intently watch his face, looking for any slight or subtle change. Finally he smirked at her, "No nurse has been hired. I have started looking for a nanny."

"We could just find a daycare center here in Trenton." Amy suggested.

"If we get a nanny, the babies would always be at home so they'd be more comfortable."

"And they'd also always be under the constant supervision of our security system." Amy deadpanned. She knew how Carlos worked. She wasn't opposed to a nanny, that just wasn't a cost she ever could have afforded before so she hadn't thought about it. "Have you found any good candidates yet?"

"A few. I've already set up interviews with them. Not for a couple of weeks though, with the wedding this weekend I wanted to give us a chance to let everything settle down."

Amy nodded, "Sounds good." She reached out and Carlos gave her his hand. "Should we get back to work?"

"Yes, but before we go back downstairs…" Carlos pulled her toward him with their intertwined hands and put his other hand on the side of her face while he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was hot, a little heavy, and not nearly long enough. They both were looking forward to Amy's appointment Wednesday to hopefully get the all-clear again. He pulled back and rested his forehead against hers.

"Wednesday." Amy whispered.

Carlos growled, "I love you. I love our babies. But I feel like I haven't made love to you in months. Wednesday seems too far off."

"Two days. You've made it what, four weeks? We just have two more days."

Carlos growled again before giving her another quick kiss then opened the door to his apartment. "I've got to go chase down a skip tonight."

"I saw that e-mail." Amy said as they walked onto the elevator. "Lexi and I will just have to have a girls night."

Wednesday morning Amy and Carlos were both anxious and excited as they got ready for work. Neither one of them did a very good job hiding it as they walked into work. They both went straight to the conference room for the Wednesday morning meeting, where Chad, the head of installations, and Tank were already setting up.

"Oh shoot," Amy said as she set her laptop bag down on the table. "I forgot some notes in my office." She shook her head at her own forgetfulness. "I'll be right back." She said to Carlos as she hurried out.

Tank watched Carlos watch Amy. "Everything alright boss?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Carlos asked as he pulled his own notes out of Amy's laptop bag.

Tank hooked a thumb towards the door Amy had just hurried out of. "She never forgets things, not as long as I've worked with her. She hasn't been bringing in her baked goodies. In fact, she's barely been in the break room at all the last couple of weeks since she's been back at work. She missed three weeks of work for an injury." Tank did air quotes when he said injury. "Not to mention all of the sudden appointments you've had over the last couple of months."

Carlos had kept his face blank during Tank's diatribe, "And?"

Tank looked over at Chad, "Can you give us a couple minutes man?" Chad nodded and headed to the door. "Close the door when you go." As soon as the door closed Tank leaned forward across the table towards Carlos. "Amy's pregnant, isn't she?"

Carlos knew he only had a short time to respond and not rouse more suspicion from Tank but he didn't want to try too hard and make it obvious he was lying either. "You're nuts." He answered in a calm and even tone. "Why would you think that?"

Tank narrowed his eyes, "I saw Bobby in his office the last few weeks reading books on pregnancy. He's single, he doesn't have any reason to read that shit. Then he went up to your apartment the other day when you and Amy were up there having lunch."

"Tank, I think you have way too much time on your hands."

Tank leaned back in his chair and nodded his head once, "You never denied it."

Carlos opened his mouth just as the door opened and Amy walked in.

"Hey guys!" She sat down next to Carlos and in just a moment realized she must have walked in on something. She looked at Carlos, then across at Tank, before settling back on Carlos. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"Oh I was just asking your fiancé here how far along you are. I'm guessing a couple months?"

Carlos kept his expression blank, hoping that Amy had a good poker face but knowing that the pregnancy hormones had her completely messed up.

Amy's smile faltered ever so slightly, "How far along I am?"

Tank smirked, "You two are good, but not as good as you think. I noticed that hesitation by the way." He pointed at Amy before looking back to Carlos. "C'mon Ranger, just tell me."

"Are you saying I look fat?" Amy pretended to be mad.

Tank's grin vanished and he stumbled over what to say. "No. Ames, Amy, I didn't say that."

"You know, my ankle injury made it kind of hard to go to the gym. It's not like I let myself go." Amy let out a short huff of frustration. "Why are some guys so concerned about women's weight? Jesus. I guess I'd better skip the pie this weekend."

Carlos was keeping his expression completely neutral, which was getting very hard to do. He'd been worried that Amy would just cave and tell Tank their news, but she obviously didn't want to yet. "Uh Tank, you might want to just drop it."

"I'm sorry Amy, I really am." Tank held both his hands up in surrender, "You're not fat, at all. I just thought that you guys were hiding a pregnancy."

"No, Tank. We're not hiding a pregnancy. I've got a wedding to plan and a house that still needs to be finished first." Amy looked down at her notes and pretended to be looking them over before adding, "Not to mention our big house-warming party this weekend that we're still getting ready for. There won't be any babies until we're married."

The last comment made Carlos grab Amy's knee under the table and give it a quick squeeze.

A knock at the door had all three of them looking up to see Chad sticking his head in, "Everyone is here."

Carlos motioned a hand for them to enter before standing, "Sorry for the delay everyone. Let's go ahead and get started."

The morning meeting took half an hour and was the same as all the others. Amy spent the rest of her morning working on the Donnelly account before Carlos came to her office at noon to leave for her appointment. They ran into Tank on their way to the garage.

"Is it okay if we go get lunch before we have to pick Lexi up from school since she gets out early today for the holiday weekend?" Carlos teased.

"Yup." Tank gave them a thumbs up. "Your good. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and I'll see you guys Saturday."

Amy waited until they were in the elevator descending down to the underground parking garage before she started laughing. But she waited until they were in Carlos' Cayenne before she spoke.

"Poor Tank."

Carlos was laughing almost uncontrollably. "I really thought you were going to cave and tell him. I honestly wasn't sure how we could convince him he was wrong. But the look on his face when you asked him if he thought you were fat." Carlos let out another laugh. "Priceless!"

"He's going to be so pissed when he gets the Christmas card in the mail."

"He'll get over it." Carlos reached for Amy's hand, "Where do you want to have lunch today?"

"I really don't want a huge meal, somewhere for soup and a salad would be perfect."

"You got it."

They pulled into the parking lot at the OB's office after stopping at a little bistro for lunch. Carlos looked over at Amy, "Let's go check on our babies."

Amy checked in and after a fifteen-minute wait they were called back. She gave a urine sample, like always, and was taken to the exam room. The nurse told her to strip from the waist down, cover with the sheet and Dr. Sayre would be right in. A couple minutes later Dr. Sayre was knocking on the door.

"How are the soon-to-be married parents doing today?" She asked as she walked in.

"Great." Amy said excitedly. "I am loving being back to work. I'm no longer staring at the walls of our house being bored out of my mind."

Dr. Sayre laughed as she patted Amy's knee before sitting on the stool. "That's very good to hear. So you obviously haven't been having any problems?"

Amy shook her head, "I feel pretty good. No cramps or spotting, Carlos doesn't let me do anything except eat, sleep, get dressed, and work. I don't even drive." She teased.

"Well, let's get the exam over with so we can do a quick ultrasound. If everything looks good you'll get to go a whole two weeks without seeing me." Dr. Sayre did the exam then paged the ultrasound technician to come in. "So, you are not dilated or thinning out. Which means you are officially off all restrictions. Including sex. Just watch for any cramping, spotting, bleeding, lower back pain, or abdominal pain. If you experience any of those call the office and come in or go to the ER."

"Hey guys!" Tina, the tech, stuck her head in. "Ready for me?"

"Yes," Dr. Sayre motioned her in. "We'll check on the babies then you guys are free to go."

"Okay, let's see those little peanuts shall we?" Tina squirted the gel on Amy's stomach and started right in on the ultrasound. "Here is Baby A. You've got an active one in there today!" Tina moved the wand around a little while trying to get a good angle to measure the baby. "Baby A has gone through a bit of a growth spurt, he measures at thirteen weeks and two days. And the heart rate," That loud, steady thudding filled the room. "146. Perfect!" Tina moved the wand and their second baby filled the screen. "Baby B is measuring at twelve weeks and four days which is spot on." The steady thudding of another heartbeat filled the room yet again, "155. Your babies are both looking wonderful." Tina did a few more measurements, looked at the placentas, and Dr. Sayre had her check a couple other things before they finished the ultrasound.

"Here are a few new pictures." Tina handed the print outs to Carlos then left the room.

"So, make your next appointment for two weeks from Friday. Don't go too crazy at your wedding, but have fun. Stay hydrated and take breaks as often as you need to. Otherwise, have a Happy Thanksgiving and congratulations." Dr. Sayre smiled then walked out.

Amy just sat on the table staring at Carlos and smiling.

"How long does it take to get home?" Carlos teased.

"We do have to go pick Lexi up."

"Damn. We could just go to the apartment."

"No!" Amy slapped his arm as she finally stood up and started getting dressed. "You know, we could just wait until Saturday night."

Carlos waited for her to look him in the eye, then he realized she was trying to be funny. "We are not waiting until Saturday night." He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to him, "Tonight." He dropped a quick kiss on her lips before turning her around toward the door. "Let's get out of here."


	20. Chapter 20

**Life is crazy, but I've been able to get a bit more writing done. I haven't forgotten about this story-I promise! Thanks for your patience everyone.**

 **Ch 20**

"Mom, can we watch a movie tonight since I don't have to be up for school tomorrow?" Lexi asked from the backseat of the Cayenne.

"Sure thing honey. We can pop some popcorn, assuming I can find the air popper. I think we have some marshmallows and m&m's too." Amy said as she looked at her phone after it chimed an incoming text message.

"What's up?" Carlos asked

"I just got a text from my dad saying he can't wait to see us Saturday."

Carlos nodded, "My mom called me this morning and pushed pretty hard about helping set up for the dinner. I told her that we just wanted to have a fun time with our families so we're having everything done for us." Carlos stopped when his phone rang. "Yo." He stopped, listening to what sounded like Tank on the other end. "You what?!" His voice was level and menacing at the same time. He was quiet for a minute before continuing, "Just keep it quiet, please. Amy and I aren't telling anyone yet."

Amy had only been half listening but she quickly turned her head when she realized what Carlos was talking about. "How?!" She whispered?

Carlos held up one finger signaling her to wait. "Not a word Tank, or I'll be delivering your ashes to your mother personally." He said somewhat jokingly as he ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket.

"How in the hell did he figure it out?!" Amy whispered loudly.

"Our vehicles all have trackers on them. He went to the control room and tracked the car after we left today. Nosy fucking bastard." Carlos shook his head. "I'm not really mad at him, but we haven't even told the rest of our families yet."

"It's just a few more weeks. Can Tank really keep that secret?"

Carlos nodded, "He will if he knows what's good for him." He shot a quick look over at Amy then added, "Yes, he can keep it secret."

"I suppose." She admitted. "Well, it'll just be a few more weeks. I'll talk to the photographer and see if she can get us a couple of the images of the three of us from the wedding as quickly as possible so we can have the announcements made for our Christmas cards."

"Do you want to make some special sign or anything?" Carlos asked.

"Like what?"

"I've seen the announcements that have the printed or painted signs and banners and whatnot, that say 'We're expecting!' or whatever you want them to say."

"Have you been on Pinterest again?" Amy teased. She really laughed when Carlos scowled at her. "We certainly could do that."

"Let's call Jackie, the photographer, when we get home then. I don't want to spring this on her when she gets there Saturday afternoon."

"Sounds good."

They got home to Flynn greeting them outside the garage. They'd had underground electric fence installed on the two acres of land directly surrounding the house, giving Flynn plenty of room to run. Neither of them were comfortable with him having free range of the entire property, and the house sat in the middle of five acres that had been mostly cleared and landscaped so he was relatively easy to find when they let him out.

"Hey buddy." Amy reached down and scratched Flynn behind his ears when he jumped up on her legs. "We should probably get you a friend, now that we're out here in the middle of nowhere."

"A German Shepherd." Carlos said as they walked into the house from the garage. "I'll have him learn commands in German so that we'll be the only ones who can make him do what we want."

"No." Amy said sternly. "I'm not training our dog in German. But I would love a German Shepherd." She walked straight into the kitchen where Claire was standing at the island writing something. "Hi Claire!" Amy had fallen in love with Claire in the short couple of weeks she had worked for them. "What smells so good?"

"Hi Amy. I've got a beef roast going in the crock pot. You can either eat it with the gravy I'll make from the broth or I can shred the beef and sauté some green peppers and onions to make melt sandwiches."

"The melt sandwiches, definitely." Amy answered.

"And a salad," Carlos added. "I'm going to go to the office and call the photographer."

"Okay, I need to check on something then I'll join you."

"I've got it." Carlos waved her off.

Once he was out of the room Amy walked over to Claire, "Did anything get delivered today?"

"Yes, UPS dropped off a few large boxes. I had them put them in the detached garage, just as you asked."

"Perfect! Thanks! I ordered something for Carlos and I don't want him to see it." Amy turned and headed for the door to the breezeway, "If Carlos comes back before I do, don't tell him where I'm at." Amy hesitated, "Distract him, or lie. I don't know, I can't come up with anything right now." She laughed. "These damn hormones." Then she hurried out to the garage.

Two of the boxes had more decorations for the house, mostly some wall hangings and a set of table lamps. But the third box was a surprise for Carlos. She opened the box and just smiled. He was going to love it, she hoped. It was black, and he does like all things black.

"Lex," Amy said a moment before she turned and saw that Lexi was passed out on the other couch. She hadn't quite made it all the way through Moana.

"I've got her." Carlos helped Amy stand up then got up off the couch and crouched down to scoop Lexi up. "I'll take her upstairs and get her in bed, why don't you go ahead to our room and get settled."

Amy stretched then just stood and watched as Carlos carried her daughter upstairs to bed. If she wasn't already pregnant, watching him carry Lex upstairs would've made her want to let him knock her up all over again. Once he disappeared up the stairs, Amy headed down the hall to their bedroom. She had some sexy lingerie but decided to just strip down naked. She lit a few candles on the nightstands before turning off the lights and got into bed. Which is where Carlos found her a few minutes later.

Carlos walked in the door and closed it quietly behind him. He stood there for a full minute just staring at her before slowly starting across the room, stripping as he went. "Have I told you lately how amazing you look?"

Amy smiled, "Only every time we see each other."

"Pregnancy looks good on you, I can't help that." He knelt on the bed and crawled across it until he was hovering over her. "How many more kids do you want?" Carlos joked before he closed the distance and pressed his lips to hers.

"Did you lock the door?" Amy asked as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him down.

"Of course." Carlos answered between kisses.

It didn't take long before they were both breathing heavily, both of their hands roaming everywhere. Carlos ran a hand from the top of Amy's shoulder down her chest until he was just barely rubbing her nipple. The contact instantly pebbled and tightened the bud and made her arch her back into his touch. Carlos moved suddenly and switched their positions so that Amy was on top straddling him.

Amy sat up and feigned a pout, "I like you on top."

"I don't want to crush you." Carlos said as both of his hands skated up her sides, giving her goosebumps. Then he was cupping her breasts and rubbing both peaks, he watched as her eyes clouded just before she closed them and threw her head back. "Come here." He whispered.

Amy obliged and bent down over him, just barely brushing her lips over his. "It's been a long couple months. It almost feels like our first time all over again."

Carlos groaned and thrust his hips up, his achingly hard shaft rubbing in the cleft of her butt cheeks. "It's been a very long couple of months." She lifted her hips and positioned herself over him as he rubbed the head across her wet entrance, causing her to suck in a quick breath "Are you ready?"

"God yes." Amy answered before he could even finish the question.

Carlos slowly entered her and pulled her hips down until he was buried in her completely. "Just hold still a minute." He said against her lips then slowly inhaled. "I don't remember you feeling this good."

Amy pulled back an inch and smiled before she tilted her hips and ground them down further onto him. Carlos grabbed her hips and lifted her then quickly brought her back down. Amy's mouth dropped open as she groaned. Any response she would've had was lost as Carlos continued with the carefully timed thrusts.

After a minute Amy pulled her face away from his and sat up, putting her hands on his chest to ride him. Carlos ran his hands from her hips up to her chest, quickly rubbing, then pinching her nipples.

"Oh shit." Amy groaned, "If you don't stop,"

"Just let go." Carlos said as he continued his hard and fast drives up meeting her hips as they crashed down.

Amy shook her head, "It's too fast."

Carlos smiled, "We've got all night Sweetie, now come."

Two more hard thrusts and Amy threw her head back and yelled out his name then collapsed down on his chest. Feeling her muscles pulse around him was all it took for him to follow her. He groaned out her name in her ear and finally stilled beneath her.

"Holy shit." Amy said as she wheezed air in and out of her lungs while she was still sprawled on Carlos' chest. "You know," she paused to try to catch her breath a bit. "I've been fighting morning sickness and have been worried about the babies, so I didn't really realize just how much I've missed this."

"Oh I definitely have been missing this." Carlos admitted. "But now I think we need a shower. What do you say?"

Amy pushed herself up off of his chest, "Sounds good to me," she said then started off the bed. She tossed a look over her shoulder and squealed when she realized that Carlos was following right behind her with a predatory look in his eyes.

Carlos' alarm went off at seven the next morning. He quickly shut it off and sat up. He didn't normally need an alarm, but he'd had a feeling he would need it after Amy had fallen asleep at nearly two am. Looking behind him he saw Amy still sleeping soundly. Carlos went into the bathroom put on his workout clothes and quietly snuck out. He went to the kitchen and made himself a protein shake, then went to the basement to workout. He opted for a short, for him, five mile run on the treadmill. He spent about thirty minutes lifting weights then jogged back up the stairs to take a quick shower.

Carlos walked into the master bedroom, and quietly shut the door behind him. He looked up at the bed just as he let go of the door handle and was surprised to see their bed empty. He was sure Amy would still be sleeping since it was only eight. Then he heard one of the sink taps being turned on in the bathroom. He walked in to find Amy in a pair of turquoise lace boyshort underwear and a matching lace bra.

Amy smiled around her toothbrush and winked at him as he walked to the shower. He stripped and stepped in, turning on the water just as Amy finished brushing her teeth. "You didn't wake me up." She said accusingly as she walked toward the shower.

"You need the sleep. You were up until two." Carlos gave her a knowing smirk as he washed his hair.

"I wasn't the only one who was up that late. Besides, it was worth it." She smiled.

"Damn right it was worth it." He said to her back as she walked to the closet.

Carlos stepped into the closet just as Amy was pulling on her navy lace tea-length dress. "Do you need help?"

Amy looked at him over her shoulder, "Please." She pulled all of her hair over one shoulder to give him access to the back.

Carlos pulled the zipper up then dropped a kiss on the side of her exposed neck. "I was hoping to wake you up with breakfast in bed." He backed up and went to his side of the closet.

"I had my alarm set to get me up so I can put the salad together." Amy turned around just as Carlos dropped the towel he had around his waist, she didn't hear a word he said as she stood there openly gawking at his hot naked body.

Carlos turned around when Amy hadn't responded to his question, he chuckled when he saw her staring. "Amy, hello? My eyes are up here." He teased.

Amy blinked her eyes a few times then raised them up to his face, "You can't talk to me when you're standing there naked and actually expect me to respond." Her cheeks were a little flushed but not in embarrassed.

"Well, forgive me then." He pulled on a pair of black boxer briefs, ending her free show. He started putting on his black dress slacks before he continued, "While you were busy ogling, I asked if you were okay with yogurt, fruit, and toast for breakfast."

"That's probably the best choice, considering what we'll be eating for lunch." She walked back to the bathroom to do her makeup.

"That's what I was thinking." Carlos pulled on a charcoal v-neck sweater, then sat down on the bench to pull on his black socks and dress shoes. "Do you want me to go get Lexi up?"

"No, I'll get her up so I can braid her hair." Amy finished her makeup just as Carlos walked up next to her to brush his teeth. "I should teach you how to braid her hair." She watched him for his reaction.

Carlos paused for just a moment before he continued brushing his teeth. He watched Amy's reflection in the mirror as she put on her necklace and earrings. After he finished and had wiped his mouth with a towel he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him. "I have a sister, I already know how to braid hair."

Amy couldn't stop the look of surprise from her face, "Really?"

Carlos pretended to be shocked, "Of course I do."

"You'll have to prove that to me," Amy dropped a quick kiss on his lips. "But not today."

"How about I go take care of the dog and get breakfast ready?"

"Perfect." She started to back away but Carlos pulled her to him again. He gave her a quick but intense kiss then released her. She was all smiles as she left their bathroom.

Carlos went to the kitchen and put a scoop of food in Flynn's bowl. He got out the plain yogurt, fresh fruit, and a loaf of bread for toast. He had a plate of peanut butter toast and small bowl of yogurt and fruit ready for Amy and Lexi, and was eating his own yogurt when the girls walked in. Lexi was dressed in a plum-colored tunic sweater with cream leggings, knee-high brown boots, with a dutch braid in her hair.

"There's my girls!" Carlos smiled as Lexi climbed on to a stool at the island right next to Amy. "Purple is your color, Lex."

Lexi blushed and looked down at her plate as she quietly thanked him.

"Lex," Amy was getting ready to dig into her breakfast. "Do you want to help me make the broccoli salad?"

Lexi nodded her head, "Can I cut the broccoli?"

"Yes, you can. That way I can fry the bacon and make the dressing. But you can mix it all together for me."

After they'd finished their breakfast, Amy helped Lexi get started on cutting the broccoli before working on the rest. Amy was helping Lexi mix it all together when she noticed that Carlos wasn't in the kitchen any more.

"Lex, I think that's good. Why don't you run upstairs to your bathroom to brush your teeth and wash your hands. I'm going to go look for Carlos so we can get ready to leave."

"'Kay mom," Lexi said as she literally skipped out of the kitchen to the stairs.

Amy walked down the hallway to the office but the room was empty. She checked their bedroom and closet but he wasn't there either. She finally went back to the kitchen and then resorted to the intercom to call for him. His voice came over the intercom after a minute and had Amy running to the breezeway to the second garage. She literally burst through the door and found Carlos standing by the box that had his surprise wedding gift in it.

"What are you doing?" She asked, sadly a little winded after her short sprint.

Carlos cocked his head ever so slightly, "What are these boxes?"

"Have you looked in any of them?" Amy started slowly walking over to him.

"No."

Amy's shoulders sagged a little in relief. She knew he saw her reaction, but at least he hadn't looked in the box. "More house décor stuff that came yesterday, I'll get it put out tomorrow."

"Why don't you want me to see it?"

"There might be a present in there for you."

Carlos smirked and put his hands down on top of one of the boxes. "A present for what?"

"A wedding gift." Amy started to chew on her bottom lip nervously.

"Why did you buy me a wedding gift? Is that a thing?" Carlos walked around the boxes and stopped in front of Amy.

She shrugged a shoulder, "You've done all of this," she gestured around her. "Our wedding is happening with less than two months of planning, you've had this huge house renovated for us, you're adopting Lexi, and you've handled pretty much every single minute detail of all of it because I'm pregnant and have been on bedrest." She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist, and he put his arms around her shoulders. "I just wanted to get you something."

"Well, thank you. It is completely unnecessary but I'm sure I'll love it, whatever it is." Carlos released her and put a hand on her lower back to guide her out of the garage. "I suppose we should head to my parents."

"We should."

"Carlos!" Marie pulled him into a hug before letting him in the house and turning to Amy. "Oh Amy," Marie just smiled at her, her eyes twinkling with unshed tears. "You look absolutely amazing. Pregnancy really agrees with you." She whispered as she pulled Amy in for a nice long hug before releasing her and grabbing onto Lexi's hand. "You can come to the kitchen with me and your mama, I've got some cooking to finish up."

The smells coming from the kitchen reminded Amy of home. The aroma of Turkey baking, pumpkin, cinnamon, and Thanksgiving smells coming from the kitchen nearly made her stomach growl. She was getting past the nausea phase, thankfully. They walked through the living room where Carlos was already in deep discussion with his dad and another man, whom Amy was pretty sure was his brother-in-law.

"Amy," Carlos waved her over. "Amy this is Peter, my sister Elisa's husband."

Amy put her hand into Peter's outstretched one and smiled, "It's so nice to meet you. Carlos has talked a lot about you guys."

"Yes, nice to meet you too." Peter smiled and nodded his head enthusiastically. "Marie has been talking about you and Lexi nonstop since we got here last night."

Amy's cheeks flushed a little, "It's nice to finally put a face to the name."

"Carlos," Elisa yelled from the kitchen doorway. "You and Peter need to let poor Amy get away from all of that testosterone in the living room and come to the kitchen with the girls."

Amy couldn't help but laugh, "I guess I'm being summoned to the kitchen. We'll talk later." She smiled at Peter and squeezed Carlos' hand before heading to the kitchen.

The kitchen was full of Carlos' female relatives, all seemingly busy doing something. Marie already had Lexi in an apron and stirring something that looked like gravy on the stovetop.

Elisa pulled Amy in for a hug, "It is so nice to meet you. And I'm so happy that my brother finally grew up and is settling down!" Elisa released Amy on a squeal and grabbed her left hand to admire her engagement ring. "My God my brother has good taste in jewelry. So when is the big day?"

"We're thinking about next June maybe, we're still trying to finalize the date and checking on venues." Amy was hoping they could keep everyone happy with that answer today, because she knew all of his family would be asking.

"June huh? Why June? You guys should just come out to Vegas over New Years and get married there."

Amy chuckled, "I don't think we'll do that, you'll have to talk to Carlos about that one. But June isn't for sure, we're just trying to find the right venue that's available on a date that works for us."

"If your new house is as big as mama said, you could just have it there. No availability conflicts." Elisa countered.

Man, she was really making it hard to avoid the topic. "I'll have to consider that." Amy turned back to Marie. "So, what do you need help with?"

"Nothing. Sit at the table and talk with us." Marie was helping Lexi with the gravy while Elisa went back to chopping onions and cilantro. Amy smiled at Marie's two sisters who were also in the kitchen, one was cutting green beans and the other was mixing some kind of dough by hand.

"Amy," Elisa set down her knife and grabbed the bottle of wine off of the counter, "Wine?"

"No, thank you." Amy shook her head. "I'll just have a water."

"Oh no, let me guess. You're a super healthy eater like my brother?" Elisa smirked.

"No one is a super healthy eater like Carlos." Amy quipped. "I'm just really not much of a drinker. But thank you."

"So you work with Carlos?" Elisa asked as she went back to chopping.

"Yes, I write and install the coding for the security systems." Amy smiled as she watched Lexi with Marie. They were both having fun at the stove together.

"Is it hard to work with him now that you guys are engaged?" Elisa threw a glance over her shoulder at Amy as she kept chopping.

"No," Amy shook her head. "He's always valued my opinion and has been a great boss. It's definitely easier for me to get time off now though." Amy teased. All of the ladies in the kitchen laughed. "Honestly, working for Carlos has given me opportunities I probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere else career-wise. He gives me the freedom to run my department my way, and I get to write the programs I want. He doesn't try to micromanage me or my department, I don't know that I would've gotten the same treatment at another company."

"I am so not that tech savvy, I can't even figure out how to put the parental lock on my iPad for the kids."

"I can help you with that." Amy smiled.

"Mama said you don't have any family here. What do you usually do for Thanksgiving?" Elisa asked as she scooped the chopped onion into a bowl and began on some tomatoes.

"My brother lives in New York, we've met up with him a couple of times. But we usually stick around here and just go to my good friend Barb's. Her daughter Emma is best friend's with Lexi." Amy grabbed a baby carrot off the vegetable tray Marie's sister was assembling.

"That's nice." Elisa washed her hands then joined Amy at the table. "So, when are you and Carlos going to make me an Auntie again?"

Amy choked on her carrot. After a couple of drinks of water and some coughing, Amy finally cleared her throat. "Well, we're definitely talking about that." She looked to Lexi who was about to say something, until thankfully Marie patted her shoulder and stopped her.

Elisa was too busy being shocked by Amy's answer to notice the look Amy had given Lexi and Marie. "You're really talking about having kids?!"

"Yes," Amy nodded. "Sometime after we get married." She answered vaguely.

Carlos walked up behind Amy and put his hands on her shoulders, massaging lightly. "What's happening after we get married?" He asked.

"I was just asking your fiance here if you guys were going to make me an Auntie again." Elisa stood and embraced her brother in a short hug. "Do you really want another kid? You guys aren't pulling my leg are you?"

Carlos pinched Elisa in the side, "I think we might have a kid or two." He admitted. "Like Amy said, sometime after we're married."

"And when is the wedding? Can it be tomorrow?" Elisa sat back down. "Because Brady and Hattie have been bugging me about cousins lately. Peter's brother doesn't have any kids and he's not even in a relationship. So that leaves you to fulfill that wish." Elisa teased.

"I think we're discussing June, we just haven't found a venue that's available." Carlos leaned down and kissed Amy's cheek then whispered, "More water?"

Amy patted Carlos' hand on her shoulder and nodded.

"I told Amy that you guys should just use the new house, I've heard it's huge."

"That's not a half bad idea. We'll have to think about that." Carlos set a new bottle of water down in front of Amy.

An hour later everyone was sitting around Marie's large dining room table with plates heaped with delicious food. Amy was sitting between Carlos and Marie, Lexi was at the kitchen table with Elisa's kids. Elisa and Peter were seated across from her.

"So what do you want us to bring for your dinner on Saturday?" Elisa asked as she picked up a chorizo taco off of her plate.

Carlos and Amy both shook their heads, he spoke up first. "Nothing. The entire meal is being catered."

Elisa stopped chewing her food for a moment then continued. She took a drink of water before speaking again, "Well you guys just moved in, do you need help unpacking or setting anything up?"

"We're pretty much unpacked. The house is huge compared to my house or Carlos' apartment. I've done some serious damage to his American Express card over the last couple of weeks, buying furniture, throw pillows, bedding, décor-dust collectors as he calls them-you name it." Amy laughed when Carlos chortled at the mention of throw pillows.

"It's a good thing we have a full-time housekeeper, she has enough to do just cleaning and dusting all of those knick knacks." Carlos teased.

Amy playfully elbowed Carlos in the ribs, "The housekeeper was YOUR idea, not mine. And some of those knick knacks are yours."

"Peter, the kids, and I should drive over and check out your huge house tomorrow." Elisa looked at Carlos, "I need to see what my big brother finally settling down looks like."

"That's what Saturday is for." Carlos smiled at his mom as she pushed a small plate with a slice of pecan pie on it towards him.

"Of course you guys can come out." Amy nudged Carlos' knee with hers under the table. "Lexi would love to have other kids to play with."

"What time should we come?" Elisa asked as she took the slice of pumpkin pie her dad passed to her.

"Any time after lunch, I fully intend on sleeping in tomorrow." Amy didn't acknowledge Carlos pinching her leg under the table.

"So who is going out to get some deals tomorrow?" Peter asked.

"No way." Amy shook her head. "Large crowds of greedy and insane people, not my thing at all. Cyber Monday is more my style. Are you joining the black Friday madness?" She looked to Elisa.

"I was thinking about it, but Peter doesn't want to. I was going to do some Christmas shopping."

"And then we'll just have to pay to ship the stuff home." Peter interrupted.

"We'll be back here for Christmas, we could just store the presents here or at Carlos and Amy's." Elisa elbowed Peter at his obvious annoyance of the black Friday topic. "Men, they just don't understand the thrill of Black Friday shopping."

Marie cleared her throat before speaking, "Why anyone would want to go out and fight for a bunch of meaningless junk just the day after we all give Thanks for each other is beyond me. I'll pay full price for my things in a few days, rather than go out tomorrow."

"Here, here." Amy raised her glass in salute and then took a drink. "There is nothing I want badly enough to go out tomorrow. So please, Elisa, bring the kids over to our place. You can help me decide what to do with the formal living room because we still haven't settled on furniture for that room yet."

Saturday morning was a flurry of people coming and going. The tables, chairs, and linens were dropped off bright and early at 7:30, setting up and arranging them took a little while. The DJ set up all of his equipment and was gone by ten. Amy and Lexi got their hair and nails done and got back shortly after 1, after having lunch at their favorite little bistro. Carlos was just helping the caterers and their staff get set up in the kitchen when the girls got back home.

"Wow." Carlos said the minute Amy and Lexi walked in the door. "You ladies look gorgeous."

Lexi blushed, "Thank You."

Amy smiled and walked over to him, "Dad and Carrie will be here a little after two." She gave Carlos a light kiss. "My dresses, and Lexi's dress are in our closet."

"Hey!" Claire said as she walked in from the garage. "You two aren't supposed to see each other before the thing."

Carlos furrowed his eyebrows, although it was barely noticeable. "How would we pull that off today?"

"Rumor is it's bad luck." She teased.

"Well, we haven't done a single thing the way you're supposed to leading up to today." Amy said as she and Carlos stood with their arms around each other. "So we may as well just stay the course." Amy walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a banana off the basket on the counter. "I'm sorry, I'm starving." She said before she peeled it and took a bite. "Plus there's just no way for us to stay apart since we'll be greeting people as they get here for the dinner."

"Mom, can I go up and play the Xbox?" Lexi asked from her perch on a stool at the island.

"Sure honey, just make sure you don't mess up your hair." Amy squeezed Lexi's shoulder as she ran past her.

"Well, I think the tables are all set up in the garage." Claire was moving to the kitchen. "I've offered to help the caterers but they insisted they've got everything covered. I just double-checked the guest apartment and bedrooms, everything seems to be in order for your guests to stay the night. Is there anything else you need me to do?"

"No Claire," Carlos insisted. "Make yourself some lunch, if you haven't eaten already, and then you're free to go."

"You should have brought your dress for tonight," Amy said. "You are coming to the dinner and celebration tonight, aren't you?"

"Oh, I don't want to intrude." Claire flushed a little and shook her head.

"Nonsense, you're not intruding. We would love to have you here. I know you're new but we like to treat our employees as family." Amy rounded the island and returned to Carlos's side. "Please come."

Claire smiled, "I would love to come. I guess I'll head home to get ready then."

People were milling around the entire ground floor of the house. Carlos and Amy had stood by the front door to greet people as they entered, now they were wandering like everyone else.

"Everything looks so nice," Marie said to Amy. "I can't believe how much you guys got done, and how fast. It looks amazing."

Amy nodded, swallowing a sip of ginger ale. "We really put our poor contractor and his guys to the test. But they pulled everything off wonderfully. The gym and theater in the basement aren't done yet, but we focused on the main living areas first."

"Have you chosen furniture for the living and dining rooms yet?"

"We have, it's all out in the detatched garage. The huge dining table and chairs just got delivered Wednesday. I think Carlos is going to have to either hire movers to come and get it into the house, or get the Rangeman guys to come do it. It's a gorgeous Amish-made table, way too big and heavy for me to be able to help him get into the house. We have the leather furniture for the family room, it's in the detatched garage as well. We're still deciding what to do with the formal living room."

Carlos turned from his conversation with his dad to butt in on his mom and Amy's. "I wanted to get black leather furniture and glass tables, but Amy said No."

Marie shook her head at her son, "Carlos, your not a bachelor anymore. Black leather and glass tables don't fit with the house."

"That's exactly what Amy said. Well, not the bachelor part. We'll find what we want eventually." He squeezed Amy's hand then released it as she and his mom moved to the kitchen.

Amy had just snuck off to the master bedroom with Lexi to get changed. Carlos was talking to the judge who would perform the ceremony when Amy's dad walked up to him.

"Where did my daughter sneak off to?" He asked just as the judge walked away.

"I think she just needed to go to the bathroom." Carlos knew that as soon as he got a text from Amy saying she was ready, he would be escorting Kevin to the master bedroom and then he would know what today was really about.

"This is quite the house Carlos, really."

"Thank You." Carlos smiled.

"So are you guys going to fill all these bedrooms eventually?"

"I don't think we're going to fill all of them, but we definitely have talked about having a kid or two eventually."

"Have you guys set a date for the wedding yet?"

"Actually, we thought we would talk to everyone at dinner about that to make sure we pick a date that works for most of you." Carlos smiled and nodded his head as Bobby walked by.

"Carrie and I were talking about that on the drive here, any time next summer should work for us. Except for the last weekend of June."

"Oh, I'll be sure to tell Amy. I know she's trying to pick the day that'll work the best for everyone." Carlos took a step back just in time to see Bobby go into the master bedroom. "Can you excuse me for just a minute? I need to go help Bobby."

"Yeah, I was going to get a new drink anyways." Kevin shook his empty tumbler. "I usually just drink jack and coke, but one of your guys told me I needed to try the Templeton Rye. It was pretty good, I think I'll have another one. Have you tried it?"

"No, not yet. I'm not much of a drinker." Carlos kept looking to the door of the master bedroom. "I don't mean to be rude, but I really need to go check on Bobby."

"Oh yeah, go." Kevin retreated to the kitchen as Carlos tried very hard not to sprint across the formal living room to the master bedroom.

"Amy!" Carlos called for her as soon as he had the door shut behind him.

"Stop where you are!" Amy called from the bathroom.

"Okay." He was halfway across the bedroom and stopped dead in his tracks. "But why did Bobby just come in?"

"I've felt a little nauseous all day, but I started to feel a little light-headed. So I asked him to come check my blood pressure."

"Everything's all good boss." Bobby called from inside the bathroom with Amy. "Blood pressure is normal. The babies heartbeats sound strong."

"How can you check their heartbeats?"

"I got a hand-held portable Doppler, like what doctors offices use." Bobby walked out to Carlos. "I'll show you how it works, but not right now. You can't go in there because she's getting the dress on."

"Are you serious?!" Carlos didn't raise his voice, but the tone was sharp enough to maim. "I need to see her." He seethed.

"Carlos," Amy stuck her head out of the bathroom door, making sure to keep the rest of herself hidden. "I promise, I'm fine." She smiled reassuringly. "I'll text you when I'm ready for you to send my dad back."

Carlos's face barely changed, but even Bobby knew he was scowling. Bobby patted his arm as he walked by his boss, "I swear Ranger, she's good. I think it's just a combination of nerves about today, being pregnant, and not enough protein."

"She hasn't wanted to eat much meat." Carlos almost growled.

"That's what she said, so just push other sources. She really needs to get her protein in. But I'm not going to keep you guys any longer." Bobby dropped his hand from Carlos' shoulder and went to the door. He turned back before he opened it, "Congratulations, by the way, on the nuptials. Nobody even had a clue that's what today was about."

"Not a word!" Amy called out just as Bobby walked through the door. He gave her a thumbs up and then was gone. "Your turn." She said to Carlos, "You need to go too."

He pointed a finger at her sternly, "If you feel light-headed again, you need to let me know too."

"Do you have your phone?"

He looked at her a bit curiously as he grabbed his phone out of his pocket and held it up in front of him.

"Good." She winked at him. "I was going to text you, after Bobby checked on me but you followed him in here before I could. Now he assured you everything is good, so go. Please."

Carlos was silent for a full minute just staring at her before finally relenting. "Fine. But as soon as the ceremony is done, you're sitting down."

"Sounds good to me." She waved a hand at him, shooing him away. "I'll see you in probably fifteen minutes. I love you." She smiled as she blew him a kiss.

"I love you too." He backed up a couple steps before finally turning and walking out.

After he left Amy he went straight to the caterers and talked them into making a small plate of food for Amy. They had arranged for appetizers to be served immediately after the ceremony, while they had pictures taken. So they gave him a couple of bacon-wrapped shrimp, an Italian sausage stuffed mushroom, and he grabbed a spoon and their jar of peanut butter. He was just leaving the kitchen with the food for Amy when he ran into his sister.

"Hey big brother, what is that? And where is Amy? Mama was looking for her, we had some ideas for the formal living room." Elisa looked very suspicious.

"Just a snack for me and Amy." Nobody seemed to be able to read him quite like Amy so he knew he could fool his sister long enough to get them to the ceremony at least. "I'm not sure where she's at, when I left her she was in the dining room."

"Hmmm, well she wasn't there when I checked. Maybe she's upstairs." Elisa grabbed his arm, "Come with me to look."

"I need to talk to Tank for a minute and then I'll head up, you go ahead." Carlos waited until his sister was out of sight on the stairs and then found Bobby.

"Take this in to Amy, please."

"You got it." Bobby left with the food.

Carlos knew when Bobby had left her because his cell phone chimed with an incoming text.

 _Thank You for the food, I needed it._

Carlos looked around to find the judge, they should be ready to get started soon. He sent a quick reply to Amy.

 _You're Welcome. Wife. I'm tracking down Judge Skinner, should I send your dad back soon?_

Her reply was quick.

 _Ten minutes._

 _Husband_

"Can I have everyone's attention?" Carlos stood in the hallway between the formal living room and the dining room. He waited as people came out of the kitchen and family room area. "I need everyone to do me a huge favor and come to the formal living room for just a few minutes."

Once everyone was sitting or standing in the formal living room, Carlos got things kicked off.

"Amy stepped out to freshen up, but I'm going to go ahead and start off by telling everyone how happy we are that you could make it. Especially on kind of short notice. We really wanted everyone to see the new house and we figured that Thanksgiving weekend would be the perfect chance to do that." He paused as he noticed the door to their bedroom open. "So now I am happy to tell you all, the REAL reason we wanted you all here today. Everyone has been pestering us for wedding plans and asking us when we are setting the date. Before everyone starts throwing out the dates that don't work, I want to tell you the date we picked."

Everyone looked excitedly at each other, especially Carlos' mom and sister and Amy's stepmom and siblings.

"Amy, can you come up here sweetie?" Carlos asked.

Music started to play in the background as Amy, escorted by her dad, walked out of the master bedroom, with Lexi leading the way. The entire room seemed to take a collective deep breath in as she started walking towards Carlos down the make-shift aisle that people had cleared for her.

Amy's eyes were a bit teary as her dad walked her up to Carlos. This was the day they had planned and worked so hard for for the last month and a half, she couldn't believe this was it. Everyone looked equally surprised, excited, and elated. Once Amy made it to the front of the room, she kissed her dad on the cheek and finally turned to look at everyone.

Her dress was a pale pink, with layers of tulle over a blush-colored satin silk liner. It had a v-neck and tulle straps and the skirt reached almost to the floor. The top layer of tulle had pale pink satin silk ribbons sewn down the front over the bodice and tapering down the skirt. Some pieces were straight and others scalloped, making the ribbons stand out from the fabric of the skirt. Her long hair was pinned into a low messy bun to one side with tendrils trailing down in front of her right shoulder. Her bouquet was a small bundle of white, ivory, and pale pink roses.

Judge Skinner began, "I think it's probably pretty evident why everyone has been gathered here, so I'm just going to go ahead and get started." He smiled as Carlos and Amy faced each other. "Family and friends, Carlos and Amy have requested your presence to bear witness to their marriage ceremony. Who gives this woman, Amy, to marry this man, Carlos?"

Kevin hesitated as he waited for the ball of emotion in his throat to pass. "I do, her father." He kissed Amy's cheek, shook Carlos' hand, then put Amy's hand into Carlos'. "Take good care of her." He whispered to Carlos.

Carlos gripped Kevin's shoulder, "I will. I promise."

"When Carlos came to me a few weeks ago and asked if I would marry him, I said yes immediately. As a judge, wedding ceremonies are one of the fun benefits to my job. Then he mentioned that it was a secret and I was hesitant about it, until he explained how today was going to go. This is the first time I've conducted a wedding ceremony this way, and I have to say it's been a treat. Now, I like to keep the ceremony short, sweet, and straight to the point. But I always like to read a little something first.

All of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.

These are the things I learned…

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Give them to someone who feels sad.

Live a balanced life.

Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day.

Take a nap every afternoon.

Be aware of wonder.

Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

That was 'All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,' by Robert Fulgham."

Judge Skinner flipped the page in the notebook he was holding and smiled at Carlos, then Amy. "Now for your vows. Amaya, I'll start with you. Repeat after me, I Amelia, take you Carlos."

Amy smiled at Carlos as she fought to keep the tears at bay. "I Amaya, take you Carlos."

"To be my husband and partner in life."

"To be my husband and partner in life." One tear fell down her cheek.

"To nurture you, and to grow with you throughout the seasons of life."

She drew in a shaky breath, "to nurture you, and to grow with you throughout the seasons of life."

"I will cherish our union."

"I will cherish our union."

"Trust you and respect you."

"Tru" she stopped as her voice broke and cleared her throat, Carlos squeezed her hands in his reassuringly. "Trust you and respect you."

"I will be yours in times of joy and in times of sorrow."

"I will be yours in times of joy and in times of sorrow."

"In times of failure and in times of triumph."

"In times of failure and in times of triumph."

"In times of sickness and in times of health."

"In times of sickness and in times of health."

"In times of want and in times of plenty."

"In times of want and in times of plenty."

"I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life."

"I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life."

"Carlos, now it's your turn."

Carlos repeated the same vows, surprised at how emotional he felt himself getting. No one but Amy seemed to notice his slightly thickened voice and the barely perceptible catch in his throat when he recited the last line.

"Now for the rings." Judge Skinner handed Carlos' ring to Amy. "Amaya, repeat after me again. I give you this ring as a symbol of my love."

Amy held the ring at the end of Carlos' right ring finger, "I give you this ring as a symbol of my love."

"My faith in our strength together."

"My faith in our strength together."

"And my covenant to learn and grow with you."

"And my covenant to learn and grow with you." Amy pushed the ring on to Carlos' finger.

"Carlos," Judge Skinner passed Amy's ring to Carlos.

"Now, by the powers vested in me by the state of New Jersey I can officially pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Manoso. Carlos, you can kiss your bride."

All of their family and friends started to clap and cheer, and there were a few whistles as well.

Carlos pulled Amy to his chest while Amy threw her arms, bouquet and all, around his shoulders. As soon as their lips met Carlos moved one hand to her lower back and dipped her. The applause and cheering got louder. Finally Carlos brought Amy back up and gave her one more light kiss before grabbing her hand in his and turning towards their audience.

"Thank you all for being here for our wedding. This should end the 'when is the wedding' questions." Everyone chuckled, "Now, the caterers will be serving appetizers for the next hour or so while we take pictures. Please go enjoy the snacks and drinks and as soon as we're done we'll kick this party off!" Carlos shook hands with a few people, making sure that his and Amy's immediate families stayed around for the photographer.

An hour later Carlos had Amy sitting at their table in the garage with a heaping plate of food in front of her. Their family and friends were all either eating or milling around. The dessert table was loaded with different flavors of pie, fruit crisps, and cupcakes, with one small round cake for Amy and Carlos to cut later. The main course was a choice of prime rib, grilled chicken, or cedar plank salmon with a variety of sides to choose from. Not surprisingly, Carlos had put salmon, wild rice, and roasted vegetables on her plate. She added some seasoned, chopped potatoes and a small plate of salad.

Amy was halfway through her salmon when Elisa sat down next to Carlos. "I can't believe you guys had this planned the whole time!" She playfully punched his shoulder, "You guys really didn't tell anyone?"

"The judge, the caterer, the photographer, the DJ, Lexi, and Claire all knew." Carlos said, nonplussed.

Elisa scowled at him. "That's not what I meant. You guys didn't tell any of your friends?"

Amy shook her head. "We came up with this crazy idea and just kind of ran with it."

"I love it!" She squealed. "I'm going to go grab a drink. Do you guys want anything?"

Amy shook her head as she kept eating. Carlos very firmly said, "No. I don't drink Elisa."

"Sometimes, you do. And this is a special occasion so if you were going to pick a time to have a celebratory drink, today would be it. I'm bringing you both back a drink." Elisa took off before either one of them could object further.

Amy leaned over to Carlos and spoke into his ear, "I won't drink it, I'll just pretend. But your sister is already suspicious."

Before Carlos could reply Tank joined them at their table with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Nothing like a good old fashioned shot-gun wedding, huh boss?"

Carlos narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, Amy firmly squeezed his leg under the table. "Tank." Carlos' single word reply was a greeting, a threat, and a goodbye all in one.

"You look good Ames, being married and pregnant looks good on you." Tank winked at her. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

Amy tilted her head and her smile never faltered as she spoke, "Tank, do you remember our last visit to the range?"

Tank's grin grew to a tooth-bearing smile, "Yeah."

"I believe you were the one who made a comment about my accuracy and how easily I could shoot the balls off of a squirrel, weren't you?"

Tank slowly nodded his head as his smile faded.

"I would remember that for the next few weeks Tank."

"I will." He said soberly. "I'm going to go check out the dessert bar."

"That's a good idea." Amy smiled at him sweetly. As soon as Tank was out of earshot Amy turned to Carlos. "When can the photographer have the pictures back to us?"

"She said they'll be done by the end of the week." He took her hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly, "A few more weeks and there will be no more secrets. At least the wedding stuff is out of the way."

"If my belly gets too much bigger, we won't have to send out announcement cards." Amy joked. She stood up and looked down at him, "I'm going to go get some dessert, can I bring you back anything?"

Carlos furrowed his eyebrows at her, "One serving of any dessert on that table is more sugar than I usually eat in a week. No thank you."

"Well I'm eating for three so for me that would be about two days worth, so I'll just make sure not to eat any sugar tomorrow." Amy teased before pulling the skirt of her dress back and walking away.

It took Amy over half an hour to get back to the table. She was stopped by guests a dozen times on the way to the dessert table and another dozen on the way back. She very ungracefully plopped back down into her seat next to Carlos, who scowled at the three different sugary desserts on her plate.

"Just because you're pregnant with twins, doesn't mean you can eat for three." He teased, pointing to the thin slice of chocolate cake, small serving of apple crisp, and half a slice of pecan pie.

"I know. I'm not. I just couldn't decide what I wanted, so I took smaller portions of the three I wanted the most." She forked a bite of apple crisp to her mouth and moaned. "Plus," she said after she had chewed the bite, "Pecans, apples, and oats are all healthy."

Carlos cocked his head slightly at her but kept his mouth shut as more guests stopped by the table to congratulate them and chat. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. The music kept playing, drawing people to the dance floor. The food started to disappear and the traffic to and from the bar steadily increased. He looked back over to Amy and saw she was slowly savoring her desserts and watching her dad and step-mom on the dance floor. He was just about to suggest they go for their first dance when Lester rushed up to their table.

"Hey boss, someone just parked a massive truck in the driveway and refuses to move it." Lester rushed out, obviously a bit flustered.

Carlos turned to Amy, "I'll be right back." He stood up but didn't even take a step before she stood as well.

Amy furrowed her brow and scowled, "I'm coming too."

Carlos seemed put out but he grabbed onto her hand and tugged her along behind him. They walked out of the side garage door that put them right out into the courtyard between the two garages, and there sat a GMC Yukon XL in black with tinted windows and black chrome trim and rims. Amy was about to ask where it came from when she noticed the license plate, the personalized license plate.

"Carlos." She stood in front of the massive vehicle, just staring at it.

"What?" He knew that she was catching on.

"That license plate says 'Ranger2." She paused, waiting for him to say something. When he didn't reply she turned to face him. "What is this?"

He smiled down at her then wrapped an arm around her waist, "This is your wedding present. Congratulations Mrs. Manoso." He dipped his head down and kissed her.

Amy returned his kiss with here eyes wide open watching him. When he straightened back up he plastered a convincing smile on his face.

"You got me a car?"

Carlos nodded, "We talked about you needing a bigger vehicle."

Amy turned when she noticed their friends and family starting to filter out of the garage and into the courtyard. She turned back to Carlos, "We literally talked about that less than a week ago." She paused narrowing her eyes at him, "You already had this huge land-yacht ordered then, didn't you? You just brought it up in conversation so that I would feel like I'd had some sort of influence on the decision, didn't you?"

Carlos just stared at her for a few seconds before slightly lifting a shoulder in answer. "Your little Jeep won't accommodate us much longer."

Amy rolled her eyes. "I kind of don't want to give you your wedding gift now."

Carlos smirked, "I've got my gift, I've got you."

"Oh no. You can't butter me up now. Don't you need a special license to drive this thing?" She teased. She knew you didn't.

An arm wrapped around Amy's shoulder, which she knew belonged to Tank. "Tank, when did he order this thing?"

"A few weeks ago, I think." He tugged her into him in a brief side hug then dropped his arm. "It's got everything you guys wanted."

"Everything Carlos wanted." Amy rolled her eyes again as Carlos opened the drivers door for her. "I can't climb into that in my wedding dress."

Carlos grabbed her hand and pulled her up to the open door, "You can have a look."

"I won't be able to park this thing." Amy grabbed as much of her skirt as she could in her right hand, stepped on the running board with her right foot, and grabbed onto the handle with her left hand then hoisted herself up to look into the car. Carlos steadied her with both hands on her waist. "It looks nice." She stepped back down to the driveway and turned to Carlos. "I'm sorry, I'm not being very gracious." She wrapped both arms around his neck and pulled his head down to hers, "Thank You for this insanely huge vehicle. I'm sure in about a year I'll be very thankful to have it." She brushed her lips against his.

"You'll get used to it." He promised, pulling her tightly against him. "Plus this is a very safe vehicle and will fit everyone and all the gear we'll need."

Amy just nodded. "So I guess I'll see if Tank can bring your gift out now."

Carlos smirked. "If you still want me to have it."

Feigning exasperation Amy sighed and turned to Tank, "Carlos' gift is over in the far garage, can you help me bring it out?"

"Sure can Ames." Tank walked over to the other garage following Amy.

A minute later the garage door opened and Tank pushed out two very large boxes wrapped in Batman wrapping paper. Nearly all of their guests were standing in the courtyard now, and a wave of laughter rippled through them as they noticed the wrapping paper.

Amy stood by the boxes and waited for Carlos to join her. "Have at it, rip them open."

Carlos eyed the boxes suspiciously but walked to the nearest one, "Does it matter which one I open first?"

"No." She shook her head then covered her mouth as she tried not to giggle when he started ripping off paper. A couple of minutes later Carlos was opening the first box. He stood there staring down into the box for a few moments before pulling something out.

He turned to Amy with a slight smirk on his face.

"What is it?!" Someone yelled from the audience.

Carlos held up a black cushion with the bat symbol embossed on it. "These are new benches and back rests for my weight benches. There's also a very large adhesive bat symbol, which I'm assuming is for the new weight room in the basement." He turned to look at Amy, who gave him a nod confirming it was for the gym. He smirked and winked at her before standing at the other box. "I suppose I ought to open the second box."

He opened the other box and was genuinely surprised, he pulled out a piece of paper and read it out loud. "There's no box big enough to hold the rest of your gift." He turned as he heard the loud rumbling of motors coming up their long driveway and chuckled before continuing. "No acreage is complete without toys for the big boys to play on. So here's a start to what is sure to become your newest hobby." He smiled as a pair of black four wheelers pulled up to the courtyard along with a Polaris Ranger ATV.

Carlos walked back to Amy and swept her up in a hug, literally lifting her off of the ground. "Thank You, sweetheart." He pulled his head back to look at her, "I was literally going to go look at these next week."

Amy shrugged her shoulders and smiled, "Well, I've had a little bit of extra time on my hands lately so I went ahead and ordered some for you. If you want something else, they'll let you swap. But I think you'll like what I picked out for you."

Carlos set her back down and gave her a quick but firm kiss. "They're perfect." He kissed her again. "They're exactly what I was looking at getting."

"But you'll have to wait to play with them until tomorrow because tonight is still our wedding celebration." She teased. "No mudding in your suit."

He chuckled in response but walked over to the now quiet machines. After he walked all around all three ATV's he walked back to Amy and kissed her again, "They're great. Next I'll need a trailer so I can take them to ATV parks and what not."

Amy just smiled at him, "The trailer is down at the end of the driveway. How do you think the guys got them here?"

Carlos actually turned to her in surprise, "Really?"

Amy nodded, "It's enclosed, and black of course."

He swooped down and pushed his lips to hers as he picked her up and spun her around. "God I love you." He said against her lips.

"I love you too." She said with a laugh. "But can you put me down please?"

"Oh yeah, sorry." He quickly but gently set her back down on the ground. "We should get back in to the party anyways."

"You still owe me a dance, Mr. Manoso." She reminded him on their way back into the attached garage.

"I guess I do, Mrs. Manoso." He couldn't help but smile as he said her new name.

As they walked back into the garage hand-in-hand the DJ announced them, "Here they are folks! Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Manoso!" Carlos lifted their joined hands to cheers from everyone. "I need the happy couple right up here front and center for their first dance."

Carlos led Amy through the tables to the dance floor as everyone continued to applaud them. The guests who had been occupying the dance floor all moved to the sides or back to their tables, leaving it clear for them. He pulled her into him as they reached the center of the floor and the clapping slowly quieted. The song began and Edwin McCain's smooth voice crooned out over the speakers as "I Could Not Ask for More" started playing and Carlos started slowly turning Amy around the floor.

"Well Mrs. Manoso," Carlos couldn't help but tease, "Was today everything you wanted it to be?"

Amy just smiled and tried not to let the hormones and emotions overtake her, "It was perfect Carlos." She took a deep breath to unclog the emotions lodging in her throat. "You put together the perfect surprise wedding."

Carlos bent his head down and captured her mouth with his as he spun her around the dance floor. "I'm glad." He said against her mouth. "Because I sure as hell am never doing this again." He pulled back on a laugh.

"Of course you're not," She teased. "Because the only way out of this marriage is in a body bag. And don't laugh, because that statement came from your mom."

"My mom did not say that." Carlos had a hard time believing his own mother would say anything quite so harsh.

"Okay, that's not exactly how she said it. But we were talking earlier and she did say that if you ever left me you wouldn't live to see your next birthday."

Carlos looked a little stunned, "Mama said that?"

"Yes." Amy nodded her head. "So this is it, you and me, and Lexi."

"And the babies." He added.

Amy nodded again. "No backing out."

"Why would I want to do that? I have everything I could ever need or dream of right under this very roof, right at this moment." Carlos smirked and stopped dancing to dip Amy down dramatically as he pressed his lips to hers.

Amy grabbed onto Carlos' shoulders with both hands clutching his white button-down shirt. She returned the kiss fervently, almost forgetting that they had a large audience who had started clapping for them again. The speakers played out the last few bars of the song and Carlos finally righted them before letting go of her with one arm so they could smile at their guests.

The DJ opened the dance floor to everyone again and Carlos lead Amy back to their table. As soon as they sat down Peter and Elisa joined them with glasses of champagne for all of them. Once they each had a glass Elisa raised hers, "To my big brother, who is finally married and settling down. I never thought I'd see the day." They all clinked their glasses then drank, although Amy just took a small sip of hers then put it down. "You need to drink more than that." Elisa teased. "I want some nieces and nephews to spoil and love on."

Amy chuckled while Carlos rolled his eyes. "You've technically gained a niece today." Carlos reminded his sister.

Elisa waved her hand at Carlos then turned to Amy, "Trust me, we are thrilled to have Lexi as part of our family. But my brother needs to know what it's like to have a baby in the house." Elisa finished her glass of champagne and put her hand right in front of Carlos' face, "Yes, you also have a daughter. Julie doesn't count because you weren't there when she was a tiny baby. I don't say this to bring up bad feelings or negative vibes on your big day, I'm just pointing out that you don't really know what it's like. And babies are so fun."

"I promise you, we are definitely going to have babies," Amy said as she slowly turned her glass of champagne around on the table top. "I can't promise you when," Amy added quickly. "But they are definitely in the plans. Lexi has mentioned wanting a little brother or sister for a couple years, even more so since Carlos and I started dating. Plus I want to have one or two more while I'm still young enough to enjoy the baby stage."

"I'm expecting an announcement at Christmas." Elisa said on a laugh.

Elisa's husband Peter bumped her shoulder with his playfully, "Okay honey, leave the newlyweds alone."

She threw her hands up in surrender, "Fine. I'm done. Let's dance." Elisa stood up, pulling Peter up with her. "Are you guys going to come back out?"

"I'm taking it easy." Amy squeezed Carlos' knee under the table. "I had a really bad sprained ankle and some seriously stretched tendons a few weeks back. I've barely been cleared for more than walking from the couch to the bathroom to the kitchen and back. We may go take one more spin around the floor before I officially put my feet up for the night. But go have fun, make sure you give the DJ your song requests."

Elisa waved as she blew them a kiss and pulled Peter to the dance floor. Amy turned slightly sideways in her chair away from Carlos so she could put her feet up on the empty chair next to her. He turned in his chair so he could pull Amy back into his chest and put his arms around her from behind.

Carlos lowered his head down to rest his chin on her shoulder, "We can go into the house where there's more comfortable furniture to sit on."

"Nah," Amy shook her head and patted one of Carlos' hands that was resting on her arms. "I'm good here. Most of the people are still in here eating and dancing anyways. I don't want people to have to search for us."

"It's our party, right? We can do whatever we want." Carlos pushing his nose into her neck and lightly bushed a kiss to her shoulder before returning his chin to her shoulder.

"We'll move inside once people start to leave."

They cut the cake, and had planned on doing one more dance before everyone insisted on them doing the Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances. So after a few more dances, Carlos escorted Amy back into the living room to relax on a couch with her feet up in his lap. Marie joined them just a few minutes after they'd sat down, with a plate of food for Amy.

Amy took it and happily munched on some more roasted vegetables, grilled chicken, and seasoned potatoes. "Thanks Marie."

"It's your wedding, you should enjoy it. That includes the food."

"She did eat already." Carlos interrupted.

Marie waved a hand at his, dismissing his statement. "I'm sure you already gave her a plate of salmon and vegetables, but she needs some extra calories right now."

Carlos rolled his eyes but didn't seem overly upset. "She also sampled the desserts."

Marie winked at Amy, "Good. Well, I actually came to tell you guys that your dad and I are going to go home. It's getting late for us old folks." She teased as Ric sat down next to her on the loveseat.

He nodded his head in agreement, "This sure was a nice wedding. We're happy to have you join the Manoso family. And Lexi too, even if she doesn't share the same name."

Carlos squeezed Amy's leg just before he spoke, "Actually, we haven't told anyone because we don't know for sure yet, but I'm in the process of legally adopting Lexi."

Marie grabbed onto Ric's hand and tears flooded her eyes, "Oh Carlos, my son." She took the handkerchief her husband handed her to dab at her eyes. "It takes a very special man to take on a child that's not his but treat her like she is. I'm so proud." She paused again. "When will you know?"

"We have a court date next week to speak to the judge. Amy's ex-husband signed his parental rights over with the divorce, so theoretically it should be a done deal. Us getting married should help as well. But I never count my chickens before they hatch so I'm waiting to see what the judge says."

"We can come for support, when is the court date?" Ric asked.

"It's Thursday morning at 9am. Our lawyers told us it should be a relatively quick hearing. The judge will have a few questions for us and for Lexi, but legally there's nothing preventing it." Carlos seemed a little apprehensive and unsure about the adoption, for the first time that Amy had noticed.

Amy looked at Carlos, "What do you think would prevent the adoption from going through?"

He hesitated for just a second, enough to make Amy worry about the adoption for the first time. "Not all of the missions I used to do for the Army were totally above board. A lot were off the record. I don't have any hidden criminal history. But I am a father already, to a child that I'm not involved with. A child that I signed away my rights to."

Marie leaned forward in her seat to put a hand on her son's shoulder, "Julie is nearly grown; all of that happened when you were young. I think even the judge is human enough to understand that people change as they grow. You were not the same man then as you are now. You did what was best for Julie at that time in your life. And even though she isn't here tonight, you have still kept in contact with her and have supported her."

Amy squeezed Carlos' hand tightly in hers. "It'll be fine, honey. Our lawyers know about all of that and haven't given us any reason to worry that the adoption won't go through."

"You have to stay positive, son." Marie assured him. "It'll all work out the way it's supposed to." Marie stood and pulled Carlos up into her arms. Even though he seemed to tower over her, there was no doubt that he felt a little relief from her fierce hug.

"We really do need to get going, but today was wonderful." Marie hugged Amy as soon as she stood up. "Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything," She whispered in Amy's ear before releasing her and standing back. "Congratulations my son, we'll see you guys soon."

Carlos nodded, "I think Peter, Elisa, and the kids are planning to come back out tomorrow before they fly home. I assumed you two would come as well. We'll have plenty of leftover food, you guys can come out for another free meal." He teased.

"We would love that. So we'll see you guys tomorrow. Love You." Marie hugged each of them one more time before Ric walked her out of the family room to get their coats.

"Well, what do we do now?" Amy asked as she put her half eaten plate of food on the side table.

"Have you had enough of the party yet?" Carlos asked as he pulled off her shoes and began to massage her feet.

"I want to say No, but the babies are starting to tell me Yes." She scooted herself down a little bit more and snuggled down more into the couch.

"Do you have another dress hidden away? You could change into something a little less formal and we can just hang out here." He suggested.

Amy just stared at him for a few moments. "You're not going to insist I go to bed?"

He answered with a slight shrug of one shoulder and said, "If you really needed to go to bed, you would say. I don't see how lounging on the couch is much different than being in bed. As long as you're feeling well."

"I don't think I need to go to bed yet." Amy stood up. "I'm fine staying in my dress, one of the reasons I picked this one is because it's so comfortable. I'm just going to go potty and grab the wrap sweater I bought to wear with it." She stood up and grabbed her shoes off the coffee table. Carlos stood up with her but she put a hand to his chest, "Stay here and save our spot." She teased. "I can handle going to the bathroom on my own."

The happy newlywed couple spent the rest of their reception snuggled up on the couch, visiting with their guests as they came and went. The last of the guests not staying at the house finally left a little after one in the morning. Carlos and Amy had already been in bed for over an hour.


End file.
